U.K. Cutbacks Shrink Routes for Escaping Violence (but there is NO war on women!)
U.K. Cutbacks Shrink Routes for Escaping Violence
Providers of domestic-safety services are falling short of funding and a reform to the benefits system may place even more control over financial matters in the hands of an abusive partner.
LONDON (WOMENSENEWS)-- One day almost four years ago, Samantha came home from the hospital with her newborn daughter and her husband Paul to their council house in a run-down English town near Birmingham. Her daughter Kelly had trouble breastfeeding, and wouldn't stop crying. Paul was angry.
"We had a massive row. At that point he shoved my shoulder to get past me," Samantha recalls, shoulders hunching over her knees, and speaking so quietly it's a strain to hear her northern English accent. We had arranged to meet in her house, but Samantha at the last minute changed our meeting to this chilly train station waiting room. (Hers and other names and minor identifying details have been changed to safeguard subjects' safety and privacy.)
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Now domestic violence advocates in Britain are worried that cuts to government services, in combination with stricter rules on who is eligible for out-of-work benefits, are making it even harder for domestic abuse victims such as Samantha to overcome such obstacles to leaving.
"Housing in particular, that's a key concern for women, and a particular concern for women with children, because they're not just putting their own safety and security on the line," says Davina James-Hanman, former director of the charity AVA (Against Violence and Abuse), speaking over the phone.
A census published in January by Women's Aid of all domestic violence services in England found that 31 percent of referrals in the 2013-14 financial year had to be turned away because of lack of space. With no comparable data for previous years, it's not clear if the numbers are getting worse. A full 37 percent of the 132 services that responded to the census were operating without any dedicated funding; this meant they were either operating on their reserves or using no paid staff, only volunteers.
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http://womensenews.org/story/domestic-violence/150209/uk-cutbacks-shrink-routes-escaping-violence
