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Relationships

Shame on you Iain Duncan Smith for causing stress to this vunerable DV victim

129 replies

JamNan · 19/11/2014 07:54

link here to story on BBC website

Long story short:
A woman known as 'A' has been raped, assaulted, harassed and stalked by an ex-partner. As part of what is called a Sanctuary Scheme, she and her son live in a three-bedroom home which has been specially adapted as a safe and secure space by the police.

Under new Housing Benefit rules, the woman and her son will only receive HB for a two-bedroom property; which means a reduction in income of 14%. Supported by Women's Aid she has challenged the decision in the High Court.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith is defending the claim, no doubt at great expense to taxpayers having unsuccessfully argued at a hearing in June that it should be dismissed.

I am astonished at the callous attitude of the government, IDS and his ministers. Surely we should be helping this vulnerable woman until she can get on her feet again and not penalize her.

Please don't start a bunfight about scrounging benefit claimants.

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Quiero · 19/11/2014 09:08

If any of you think keeping a woman safe from domestic violence is not a good spend of your taxes then you are seriously vile (or a Tory).

Just stop and engage your brain for a minute. Do you honestly believe that the amount of housing benefit spent is wasted on disabled/old/vulnerable people having one extra bedroom? Think about it. You do know that as there is no alternative housing, many if these people were moved into MORE expensive private rentals costing more housing benefit.

Many people living in London, have to get housing benefit because the rental prices are so extortionate. Where does that money go? Into their pockets or into the pockets of the already super rich landlords. Many of them friends and relatives of The Establishment.

Don't believe everything the Daily Mail tells you and you'll do just fine.

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JamNan · 19/11/2014 09:12
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JamNan · 19/11/2014 09:27

Two women are killed every week in England by a partner or ex-partner. These are the women who desperately need these specialist refuges.
Last year Women's Aid member organisations supported nearly 10,000 women and over 10,000 children in refuge accommodation. However, on one day alone in 2013, 155 women with 103 children were turned away from the first refuge they approached, primarily due to a lack of available spaces.
From 2010 to 2014 the number of specialist refuges declined from 187 to 155, leaving many more vulnerable women and children at risk and without specialist support.

Closures of specialist refuges will cost lives. Help us to keep these services open for the women and children who need them. Help us Save Refuges to Save Lives.

Please sign the petition at 38degrees.org SOS: SAVE REFUGES, SAVE LIVES

link here

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EverythingsRunningAway · 19/11/2014 09:31

If any of you think keeping a woman safe from domestic violence is not a good spend of your taxes then you are seriously vile (or a Tory).

And very bad at sums.

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Stripyhoglets · 19/11/2014 09:31

There should be more exemptions to the bedroom tax, but the existence of discretionary housing payment means although the scheme is discriminatory, it's proportionate because people can claim DHP to cover the short fall if they are disabled, have a particular need for a Room etc.

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Nerf · 19/11/2014 09:36

The only time the bedroom tax should be imposed is if a durable two bedroom or whatever property has been offered and refused.

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MindReader · 19/11/2014 09:42

The woman should not NEED 100K spent on a house to keep her safe as her abuser should be behind bars.

Given that is not the case, as the money has been spent already and she is safe, and it would not be re-spent on another house should she choose to move (that really would be a 'waste of money'!) - then she is STUCK. She doesn't have the option to move to a smaller house re 'bedroom tax'.
She has less money to feed herself and her child through no action of her own and there is no action she can take to improve matters.

NOT her fault she was abused by the man.
NOT her fault she is now being abused by the system.

But, IDS will go ahead and waste more of your 'tax dollars' proving his point, as per usual...

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ReallyTired · 19/11/2014 09:45

I feel that the problem is that councils are not releasing discretionary funding to cover situations like this rather than the cap on housing benefit. How long do women typically need a "panic room" for? Even if money was no concern to the state, needing a "panic room" is not a long term solution. Surely this woman needs to be taking measures to get this man out of her life for good in the long term. A supported move to a new area might make it easier to get away from the violent man. I realise she may have ties to a particular area, but those ties may well be facilitating the violent relationship.

I realise that many on mumsnet would regard it as victim blaming. I feel we need to look at what is substaining a violent relationship. Living in a state where a family needs a "panic room" is awful. Maybe we need to look at managing properties with panic rooms. Allow a family to live in a property with a panic room for 2 years and then review.

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poorbuthappy · 19/11/2014 09:46

If he is still a danger to her he should be locked up.
I would really like to know why he's not.

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Twinklestein · 19/11/2014 09:53

I don't see the point of spending a further 100 grand on a panic room in a 2 bed, rather than just leave her where she is.

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JamNan · 19/11/2014 09:54

Perhaps he's out on bail
Perhaps he's not even been arrested yet
Maybe he's so devious the Police can't find him

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PausingFlatly · 19/11/2014 09:56

Discretionary housing fund is a fig leaf.

It's nowhere near big enough in total to cover all the completely justified claims by people in this woman's situation or disabled people in adapted houses or who need a room for overnight carers.

So right from the start, councils know these situations are going to arise all the time. But hey ho, every time one hits the headlines, they can say, "Oh but she could apply for a discretionary payment we just won't pay it."

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Twinklestein · 19/11/2014 09:56

He may have been locked up in the past...

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PausingFlatly · 19/11/2014 10:00

Just the first article I happened to find, and only about disabled people and Discretionary Housing Payments, and broad brush, but you get the picture: Disabled people cutting back on food and bills to pay bedroom tax

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ReallyTired · 19/11/2014 10:01

"I don't see the point of spending a further 100 grand on a panic room in a 2 bed, rather than just leave her where she is."

The scumbag knows where she is. I think that supporting her in a fresh start is well worth the cost.

I feel that social housing with panic rooms should be part of a special housing association. It would mean that houses with panic rooms could be used by families that need them and the 100K would not be wasted.


"Perhaps he's out on bail
Perhaps he's not even been arrested yet
Maybe he's so devious the Police can't find him"

All the more reason to move the victim somewhere hidden.

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PausingFlatly · 19/11/2014 10:04

Do you not think the council will have looked at the other options before shelling out £100 grand?

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MindReader · 19/11/2014 10:10

"Surely this woman needs to be taking measures to get this man out of her life for good in the long term."

I remember working with the Police with a woman who was trying to 'take measures to get a man out of her life'.
She had moved all over Scotland to get away from him.
De-stabilising her children each time.
The Police were quite matter of fact when they said to me:
'he will kill her eventually and we wont be able to stop him'.
(this was 12 years ago).

Men like this need locked up. Permanently.

But, this Govt would rather cut Safe Houses, Cut hostels, cut Legal Aid for Women, and punish them financially whatever way they can.

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JamNan · 19/11/2014 10:22

These definitions are from the Sanctuary Schemes for Households at Risk of
Domestic Violence
Practice Guide for Agencies Developing and Delivering
Sanctuary Schemes

source here

Sanctuary Room : Sanctuary models often include a Sanctuary Room. This is created by replacing a door to a main room, often the bedroom, with a solid core door. The Sanctuary Room door is reversed to open outwards; the frame is reinforced and additional locks and bolts and a door viewer are fitted. The purpose of the Sanctuary Room is to provide a safe place where household
members can call and wait for the police.

Sanctuary Scheme : A multi-agency victim centred initiative which aims to
enable households at risk of violence to remain in their own homes and
reduce repeat victimisation through the provision of enhanced security
measures and support.

I had never heard of these before this morning.

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Twinklestein · 19/11/2014 10:25

ReallyTired why should this woman and her son be uprooted from their life and have to move around due to a violent ex?

The whole point of the Sanctuary scheme is so that dv victims can stay safely in their own home.

A child was shot and killed recently when the mother and child were in hiding from the violent ex. Shifting people around doesn't always protect them.

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ReallyTired · 19/11/2014 10:33

Having a "panic room" is not a guarentee that someone won't be murdered. You actually have to get into the panic room in time and hope that your house doesn't catch fire. Domestic violence can take place in other places other than where you live.

It is possible to get a court injunction against someone that you want out of your life. Court injunctions are only as good as the local police willingness to enforce them. Perhaps courts need to be tougher with court injunctions and force the perperator of the violence to move town.

I agree with mindreader that men like that need to be locked up.

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PausingFlatly · 19/11/2014 10:34

JamNam, that's a really informative document.

Haven't read it all, but couple of excerpts:

1.19 Domestic violence is a major cause of statutory homelessness. CLG Statutory Homelessness statistics show that domestic violence is consistently reported as the main reason for loss of last settled home for around 13 per cent of homelessness acceptances in England. The rate of statutory homelessness acceptances due to domestic violence varies from area to area, and one research study found that domestic violence accounted for as much as 30 per cent of all acceptances in one large metropolitan authority (Davis, 2008).

and

1.32 The research on which this guide is based suggests that Sanctuary Schemes have a number of benefits both for service users and local agencies. Benefits for agencies include a reduction in homelessness caused by domestic violence and a potential reduction in repeat victimisation for Sanctuary Scheme users which have the potential to produce significant cost savings for housing providers and the criminal justice system.

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PausingFlatly · 19/11/2014 10:35

Meant to say, thank you for that link.

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JamNan · 19/11/2014 10:36
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ReallyTired · 19/11/2014 10:48

JamNan,
That link is very tragic. However Mary could had just has been easily murdered walking to school. I am not sure that sanctury scheme would have saved Mary's life.

Maybe we need to look at better ways of using technology to track the movements of violent men. Ie. could we use electronic tagging to prevent the offender getting close to the victim. Maybe the victim or children could voluntarily wear a removable braclet so that a computer system could alert the police if the offender is within a certain distance of the victim.

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Twinklestein · 19/11/2014 10:55

There's no guarantee MindReader, but you appear to believe that shifting people around is the safest option, which isn't necessarily the case.

Injunctions don't actually get an abusive man 'out of your life', unfortunately.

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