‘I feel so trapped’: women’s experiences of antisocial behaviour intervention in social housing

Antisocial behaviour and vulnerability have become tied together in policy since the death of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter following sustained ASB, however, whilst there is acknowledgement that perpetrators of ASB may be vulnerable, they are still generally seen as at least partially responsible for their actions. Whilst women and girls are traditionally more likely to be viewed as vulnerable, when their behaviour is seen as challenging, the status of vulnerability may be removed by services in order to justify more punitive sanctions. This paper proposes a more nuanced understanding of vulnerability to explore women’s experiences of ASB intervention. Drawing on longitudinal, qualitative research with women living in social housing who are alleged to be engaged in ASB, this research finds women feel particularly judged and intimidated by their housing officers, are routinely punished for being victim of abuse and disability may be ignored and/or mental health exacerbated as a result of ASB interventions that do not appear to take into account vulnerability.