Government pays rent for alternative housing to aid relocation of domestic violence victims

The Housing Authority would intervene in a serious case of domestic violence by helping the victim relocate to alternative housing, Minister of Social Accommodation Roderick Galdes said on Wednesday.

PN MP Ivan Castillo posed an oral parliamentary question, asking how long government takes to relocate a domestic violence victim from their home to alternative housing.

Galdes said that during the pandemic, one of the decisions government took to aid in dealing with a surge of domestic violence cases was the creation of a system where abuse victims can approach the authorities and be relocated immediately.

He said that the government works closely with social workers on specific cases, and a social worker may recommend that a victim be relocated from their home in an urgent manner.

Galdes said that in many instances, a victim would not come forward or leave their house out of their own will, as they would have nowhere to go. He said that a social worker can ask for the authorities’ intervention and the victim would not have to wait on the housing waiting list.

The Minister also said that government would pay the deposit and the first rent of the alternative housing provided, to help the victim.

He said that government would pay up to 80% of the rent so that the victim can leave the housing where domestic violence is occurring immediately.