Kim, at Bastante Already, is asking that people - feminists especially - solve this riddle. I’m fairly certain that this, and worse, is something that affects women worldwide, and that there are few solutions to. Well, scratch that… there are of course solutions, but little will, money or effort to effect them. 

The following facts are completely true.
This situation is happening right now.
Solve for me this problem:

A woman enters a domestic violence shelter with her four children.
She has fled an abuse situation.
Her income is approximately $700 per month state assistance/TANF.
She is currently unable to work due to childcare needs and lack of transportation.
She will need at least a two-bedroom apartment, ideally three.
Average market rent for a two-bedroom, non-subsidized apartment in this area is $600-800.
A three bedroom is nearly $1000.
At $700/month, therefore, a non-subsidized apartment is not an option for this family.

She has currently been rejected from a number of local subsidized apartment complexes due to bad credit and one prior eviction.
Her abuser is responsible for the bad credit and the eviction.
She was unable to appeal one rejection as she missed the 14-day deadline to do so, not knowing her rights.

Housing authority/Section Eight is not accepting applications.
When they finally open the wait list, the average wait is two years.

It is possible she may get into another subsidized unit.
She will be rejected automatically for her credit and eviction, we will automatically appeal.
The apartment manager at this complex has a notorious rep for being a big bitch.
Perhaps she will wave the rejection after the woman explains her situation, but unlikely.
But even so, there is a wait list.
The woman is out of time at the DV shelter in mid-July.
Her options are to transfer to a family shelter, if there is room, or to another shelter in a different part of the state—where she will have to begin the apartment search all over again.

Solve this problem.
(Or keep talking about the evils of pink.)

A woman finally gets the nerve to leave her abuser.
“Come to shelter, we will help you!”
Except, after her time at the shelter has run out, she is homeless.

What to do? From Kim, again:

We need separate subsidies for victims of domestic violence.
Even six-months to a year of subsidy would help so much.
Why are there not separate subsidies for victims of domestic violence?
Why are the victims put through this housing nightmare, rendered homeless?

Where are the lobbyists, the demonstrators for these women?
Where are the letter writers, the activists for these women?
Where are the non-fun kind of feminists, who claim to care so very much about abused women?

As she says… riddle me this.