Women and lone working AIBU.

[Netcurtainnelly]

It’s been awful to hear about what happened in Bridgend to Eleanor Barnfield. Such a heartbreaking loss, and my heart goes out to her family and friends who called her the kindest person and their rock.

It’s made me so angry thinking about how common this is though. So many women working in housing, social care, health visiting, or community work are expected to walk into strangers' homes completely alone. Employers hand over a safety app on a phone and act like that’s an adequate safety policy. But by the time you're inside someone's flat behind a closed door, an app isn't going to protect you.
I get that "most visits are fine," but why are employers getting away with cutting corners on staff safety just to save budget? Why isn't paired visiting standard practice, especially when a female worker is visiting a male resident alone?
Or AIBU and single visits are just an unavoidable part of the job?

You said it yourself - money. Costs would double if paired visiting was standard and care costs are high enough already.

Who pays ?

What's the answer then?

Why isn't paired visiting standard practice, especially when a female worker is visiting a male resident alone?

No one would hire a woman if their costs increased.

I work in housing and we have a system of alerts to let staff know about additional risk. I'd say the female staff are both better trained and just better at seeing escalation than men.

What happened to Eleanor Barnfield is tragic and horrifying. But the tenants are typically the least dangerous part of our job. I'm touching wood but although I've been threatened, actual violence is extremely rare.

You might not time to alert anyone. She may have seen him before and everything was OK.
Men again. Not all men but always a man. Would he have stabbed her if she'd been a man?

It is always men (although I have had a couple of hairy moments with unwell women). And he may well have stabbed a man. Depends on his particular profile.

If we genuinely want to stop male violence, look to the countries where it is reduced. Never eliminated. Better education, better family support, better healthcare, better social programs and on and on. Not just 'two workers' as a solution.

I know it's tempting to think "just do this..." after a tragedy. But these kind of solutions don't work. They make us feel better because 'something' was done. But no one wants to pay double for social care or housing so it's impossible and ineffective.

What's the point in stabbing your housing worker anyway. You definitely won't stay in your house then?

Sadly, it's not always men. Many of my colleagues have been threatened by women (some of them with knives). There isn't a service on earth which would automatically assign two people to every person needing a visit. Not least because two professionals can also be dangerous/abusive. Just look at the number of perpetrators within police force. Everything hinges on risk assessment and nobody can completely eliminate risk.

Having worked in social care for most of my adult life, the risks, incidents, threats, violence etc I have witnessed, heard about, and experienced would make most peoples hair stand on end. Even when the people we are visiting are known to be violent, we are pressured to visit alone due to staffing shortages. I have experienced some very scary situations myself and it’s shrugged off as part of the job. I have even had managers laugh when I have come back and told them of threats I have received that involved weapons. There is no way public sector services would agree to funding 2 person visits. I don’t know what the answer is.

Im very sad to hear about Eleanor Barnfield may she rest in eternal peace.