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Benefits row vow to Renfrewshire rape victims
Renfrewshire Women’s Aid has revealed its team will refuse “to collude” with a new policy that will force women to disclose rape in order to receive benefits.
The cont roversial UK Government policy and socalled “rape clause” is due to be implements on Thursday.
It means families with more than two children will no longer be able to claim Child Tax Credits – worth up to £2,780 per child per year – for a third child.
Women whose third child is born following a sexual assault will be forced to provide evidence of the rape to healthcare professionals to be exempt from the new restrictions.
Reliant on a third- party reporting system, this policy would put local Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis groups in a position where they must certify to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that a child had been born of rape or coercion in order for women to receive appropriate benefits.
This would fundamentally change the relationship between vulnerable women and those working to support them – a risk Renfrewshire Women’s Aid, based in Paisley, is not willing to take.
The position being taken by the team in Violet Street is supported by national umbrella charities Rape Crisis Scotland and Scottish Women’s Aid.
As recently as last week, the Department of Work and Pensions said the policy is yet to have any third party referrer confirmed in Scotland.
Both Rape Crisis Scotland and Scottish Women’s Aid have condemned the Family Cap and Rape Clause, and say any charities that refuse to collude with the cruel policy have their “full and unwavering support.”
Rae Gilbert, children and young people’s outreach worker of Renfrewshire Women’s Aid, said: “Women who have experience of abuse should be supported and never be forced to disclose circumstances of conception for the purposes of a benefit.
“This will stigmatise women – and indeed children – where such a disclosure is forced.
“This is harsh and morally inexcusable. We, as an organisation, will not collude with such a punitive policy.”
Marsha Scott, of Scottish Women’s Aid, describes the notion of forcing a woman to disclose that her child was born of rape or coercion as “cruel”.
She added: “The numerous unanswered questions about how this disclosure might be understood and used in the benefits and criminal justice system are really worrying.
“If a woman later goes to police with a rape charge, will failure to apply for the exemption be seen as evidence that she is lying about the rape?
“What will disclosing that information mean for the child?
“Local Women’s Aid groups are independent charities, and we know they will be struggling with these same issues.
“We recognise that they will need to make their own decisions and continue to support women in ways that make sense to the woman and the service they provide.
“This may include accompanying women to another third-party referrer, should such an organisation emerge.
“Renfrewshire Women’s Aid has our full and unwavering support in their decision not to prop up a policy that is, in our view, ethically unjustifiable.”
Sandy Brindley, of Rape Crisis Scotland, echoes the views of Women’s Aid.
“It should go without saying that government policy should actively protect women who have experienced violence or abuse, rather than risking retraumatising victims of rape and coercion by forcing them to disclose in order to receive benefits.
“We have severe concerns both about the direct impact of this policy on rape survivors and the risk of a fundamentally changed relationship between women and those who work to support them should local centre’s participate.
“This policy has been dreamt up and developed with a complete lack of understanding or empathy for rape, domestic abuse and coercion.
“Consequent i a l l y absolutely unworkable.
“A choice between potential poverty or being forced to disclose rape is no choice at all, and this is why the Rape Crisis movement in Scotland is unable to support this policy.” it is