Homeless women are often invisible in the UK - but this week it’s a bit harder to ignore them.

Reports of adverts offering homeless women free shelter in return for sex have appeared, revealing just how shameless some men are about exploiting society's most vulnerable.

And now, we've learnt something more about the reality of life on the streets for Britain's homeless women, as a committee of MPs has just released a report on homelessness, which acknowledges the extraordinary levels of violence women experience.

With homelessness on the rise, we really can’t afford to keep brushing this issue under the rug.

Last year, an estimated 1,094 women slept rough in London - that’s up from 658 in 2010/11.