Benefit caps could 'decimate the refuge system'

[CouvelaireHair]

here

I'm upset and horrified.
I'm at a loss what to say at the moment but wanted to share.

[TwinkleReturns]

Im also speechless. Ive been one of those women.

[CouvelaireHair]

Who the heck thought it was a good idea to give all the benefits to one person? Do they not know how open to abuse that is? And why still enforce the benefit cap in exceptional (sometimes life saving) circumstances? Makes me so angry.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

What really gets me is that their theory that people should work and thats why they are cutting benefits is completely hashed.

There arent enough jobs.

I read an article about changing benefit rates to match changes in wages rather than inflation, and it stated people were concerned that it would put claimants into poverty.

Claimants are already in poverty.

When will this government stop? When the unemployed are all homeless or living in ghettoes?

[AThingInYourLife]

Holy crap :(

That network took years to build up and is an incredibly important resource.

Fucking vandals

[BlackberryIce]

The whole refuge system is barely running as it is

Do you remember the MNer sat in her car who had left but the refuge had turned her away? Awful

[MyCupsRunnethOverWithGold]

Just another example to highlight how badly thought through this whole policy is.
Only brought in to feed off the DM readers belief that everyone on benefits is living in a mansion.

[CouvelaireHair]

Its the short sightedness of it all that amazes me. The consequences of all these cutbacks is going to cost a lot more in the long run than there saving in the short term and ruining lives as they go.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

In their world women dont get abused and everyone has daddy to fall back on.

[TwinkleReturns]

yes wannabe what makes me angry is the assumption that anyone on benefits should be looking for work when sometimes it isnt possible. I got hauled into my local Jobcentre when I made my claim for IS for a work based interview. the woman was scarlet when I finished explaining that I had just come out of refuge, had a 9mo baby, was suffering panic attacks etc due to the sexual abuse Id suffered - she told me (which is what made her go scarlet) that she couldnt put that into the system as a reasonable reason not be seeking employment. I had to spell it out to her that i was entitled legally to live off my IS until DD was 5, that I would have been signed off work if I was working having been through traumatic abuse, that i was currently a wreck and barely functioning so unfit to work.

I am now pregnant (14weeks) after what essentially boils down to rape by my ex (he strangled me and then had sex with me), have an 18mo DD, am just beginning to get my life back on track. Its taken me 3 weeks to work myself up to making a few phone calls. I couldnt have even reached this stage without the support of refuge and council temp accomodation. I had no money, nowhere to go and walked inot the council and they housed me. I would have been forced to stay in that relationship if refuge and council accom wasn't there.

people have judged me when Ive told them that im pregnant - why would you be stupid enough to get pregnant again when you cant even support your first child without benefits? They dont want to know the circumstances, they just want to judge. We are breeding intolerance with these cuts. We are utterly destroying this country - and no-one in authority appears to be mounting any form of protest or speaking out against this. Its just happening. Fills me with dread.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

Thats awful :( Im so sorry.

Fills me with dread too.

DP is qualified in a million things and there are no jobs. His last employer still owes him three weeks wages (no effing idea why the man wont pay) and we are literally scraping by.

When will they make the connection between the unemployment figures and the shit they are spouting about claimants?

Will it take a rise in deaths of women at the hands of their partners before they stop? Would they even stop then?

[TwinkleReturns]

I genuinely think yes to that last question. Half the women in refuge I stayed at were forced to leave due to serious physical abuse. One lady had been there a year as her ex-h had been released from prison, tracked down his ex-gfs and stabbed two of them. She was retirement age and had no income apart from benefits. She wouldnt have lived without the support of refuge, im sure of that.

Most people are shocked by that kind of story, even though they understand what DV is. If most people are shocked, it doesnt even enter the heads of the people currently making the decisions - thats the issue. those that need the support aren't being given a voice and they should be. Makes me wish i had enough money to set up privately funded refuges across the UK.

[Darkesteyeswithflecksofgold]

Twinkle im so sorry x
Red magazine have had their Speak Up Save a Life petition running for about six months now.
Maybe they would be interested in doing an article on how these cuts and changes are going to contribute to and escalate the circumstances of abuse as well as drastically reduce the chances of women escaping these life threatening situations.
Paying the benefits all to one person is a financial abusers wet dream.







www.redonline.co.uk/savealife

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

To a certain extent they already are. DP claims JSA. I am his partner.

The only reason I have my own money is because I have DD. If I didnt...I would have nothing. The HB has to be in his name. I dont qualify for a crisis loan as I "dont exist". It has to be in his name.

The JSA gets paid into my account and is our money. But in a lot of houses that isnt the case.

Men can claim CB and TCs in their names too.

Its already happening.

[TwinkleReturns]

yep, all benefits went to ex - even CB. I had an empty bank account. it makes leaving very hard - you cant plan to get your own flat so you rely on refuge. They are making a problem there rather than fixing one!

Stop saying sorry everyone - i keep harping on about it all over the place as I keep finding it relevant to the points im making but am honestly in a good place atm all things considered!!

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

Is there a petition anywhere for a stop to benefit reforms? Is such a thing even possible?

[Darkesteyeswithflecksofgold]

You are right wannabe. When DH and i were signing on in the "90s (we have never had children) we were paid in the form of a girocheque which was just in his name. He had to claim for me they said.
Which was ok in OUR situation as hes not financially abusive. But couples are still paid like this today.
It is and always has been a system that is open to abuse because i realise that not all men are like my DH.
Hes not an emotional or affectionate man hes more a practical one and has never been physically or financially abusive. I have seen a friend get financially abused in RL and im always reading about it in threads on here.

[StillThinkingOfANickname]

When I was with my exH and he became unemployed, we had to make a joint claim. The JSA claim was in his name with myself as the partner.
The money for both of us went into his bank account and he kept all of it. We had 2 DCs together and thankfully, I had the CTC & CB in my name going into my bank account. He wouldn't 'allow' me to get a job, even though I had better earning potential than him.

I asked the Jobcentre if it was possible to get the money paid seperately, not possible.

After almost 2 years of DA, I went into refuge. They saved my life, I don't know if I would still be here if they hadn't taken me in.

[Meglet]

I feel sick just reading it .