8 July 2021
Reflecting on the Domestic Abuse Act: a great leap forward but this is where the real hard work starts…
Guddy Burnet
Cheif Executive
Standing Together
This week, criteria for assessing the housing need of survivors of domestic abuse has undergone a sea change. Local authorities no longer have to weigh up whether a survivor is still vulnerable before deciding whether they are able to help. Anyone who has lost their home as a result of domestic abuse now has priority need and will automatically be owed the rehoming duty that homelessness law places on councils.
This is, in every way, a great leap forward. Leaving home to escape an abuser can be a jump from frying pan to fire if there is nowhere safe to go. For too long this has been a huge barrier to both escape and the seeking of justice for survivors, particularly for those with no dependent children who have often found it difficult to prove their ‘official’ vulnerability.
So when the Domestic Abuse Act received its Royal Assent just over two months ago, after decades of work by campaigners and champions from every corner of the country and across the political spectrum, it was certainly time to celebrate.
But, as my colleagues at Refuge and Women’s Aid have also pointed out, this is where the hard work really starts.
“Rather than being the end … this provides us with a beginning,” said Women’s Aid. “We will be working to ensure the legislation translates to action. It is vital that it is delivered with training for professionals, resources and a clear implementation plan to provide the changes that survivors need to see.”
Because there are still important gaps in the Act. The legislation places a statutory duty on local authorities to fund support for what it calls ‘accommodation based’ services for survivors, but makes no mention of the specialist women’s refuges that deliver expert support to survivors and their children. All the evidence tells us that this expertise is a crucial ingredient of successful recovery from what has often been years, sometimes decades, of fear and disempowerment.
Domestic abuse is a much greater problem than is ever really appreciated and underlies so many evils and injustices.
Other disappointing key omissions include the Act’s failure to protect migrant women who are fleeing abuse, and to amend aspects of the Universal Credit system that hand power to economic abusers.
A key focus for those of us who have worked for these changes through the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) is clause 65 of the Act, which guarantees survivors a secure, lifelong social housing tenancy if they want one. Refuge have already heard significant concerns from housing solicitors that local authorities could choose to interpret this clause very narrowly, limiting the number of survivors who can benefit from it.
Will the clause help survivors who have fled DA and so lost their non-council tenancy with a registered social landlord. Does the clause make it clear that councils must take on the duty to help survivors find a secure tenancy? How can we ensure that the broadest range of survivors benefit from clause 65 and – crucially, given the chronic shortage of all forms of housing, and particularly social housing – that housing providers are supported to do this?
These are just some of the issues that those of us working to realise the new law’s full potential will be watching closely and campaigning to realise. In the meantime, I want to strongly commend the excellent toolkit offered to housing providers by the DAHA accreditation scheme. It’s widely regarded as one of the most thorough accreditation schemes in the sector and is the national benchmark for how all in housing should respond to domestic abuse.
After all, of all agencies, housing providers have a uniquely clear-sighted position from which abuse can be identified, prevented and real practical help offered to those who have suffered from it. Because the accreditation process has been generously supported by MNCLG and the Comic Relief charity, it is excellent value for money and organisations who have been through it can’t praise it enough.
When Homes for Haringey won its accreditation last November, Managing Director Sean McLaughlin said: “If I had to choose just one thing for our organisation to excel at, it would be this.
“Domestic abuse is a much greater problem than is ever really appreciated and underlies so many evils and injustices. I am very proud to work with a staff group that puts in that extra effort to make so much of a difference to victim survivors and their families.
“And this is one of the most effective accreditation regimes I’ve ever experienced. It reaches staff at every level and really makes a difference to attitudes and processes.”
The fact is that Domestic Abuse can affect anyone; the statistics tell us that one in four women and one in six men experience domestic abuse at some point in their lives.
So for the whole of society, and particularly for housing providers, this must be the beginning of a commitment to go above and beyond the duty of care placed on us by the new Act; to protect residents; and to make it easier for those experiencing domestic abuse to take that first step towards asking for support from their landlords and their councils.
Find out more about the DAHA Whole Housing Approach here.
Some useful numbers:
- Women’s Aid online chat service (open Monday-Friday 10 am-midnight) https://chat.womensaid.org.uk/
- Men’s Advice Line: 0808 801 0327
- Respect helpline: 0808 802 4040 (for anyone worried that they may be harming someone else)
- Galop: 0800 999 5428 (national helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people experiencing domestic abuse)
