As you all know I have expressed concern over the Home Swapper scheme and in general social housing for victims of domestic violence so when Vanessa approached me asking if I would publish this piece my answer was swift and easy. Enjoy Eve x 'Diktat Housing Tax Trap & Domestic Violence' Article Vanessa
d'Esterre @DVBurdenofProof 9th April 2014 When the personal becomes fundamentally political In this article I wish to convey my personal
experience regarding the impact of the housing tax trap with Domestic Violence.
I live in a three bedroomed Housing Association property, where I raised my son
until he left home to work away in a neighboring City. I, like most, have been
unfortunate enough to have been economically crushed by the bedroom tax trap. I pay 25% percent of my annual rent every month,
and I will see, like most, a rent rise this April; an increase of 3.2%,
as well as 0.5%, and up to an
extra £2 a week to meet 'target rent'
of £106.71. Where
the rent has already reached the target rent, the adjustment is based only on
the rate of inflation as of, September 2013, (which was 3.2%) plus 0.5%. The
guidance For Housing Associations has been calculated using the Government's
'Rent Standard Guidance'. Home Swapper - House Exchange Prior to this politically disempowering and
debilitating bomb shell, following a 'threat to kill' some fifteen years later
from my first husband in 2011. We divorced in 1996. I had already entered the
details of my property on 'Home Swapper’. This is the mutual housing
exchange website. Only a handful of people have contacted me via
this website: one had rent arrears and was not in a position to swap or I to
locate to a position of safety, and the other seven tenant locations were local
and, therefore also unsafe. 'Home Swapper' has a fundamental 'Match Criteria'
legal and moral flaw, in so far as it offers victims and struggling survivors
of Domestic Violence no protection whatsoever!
I would advise that 'Home Swapper' address the
following issues as a matter of priority. ➢ Everything, bar the number of your property, will be displayed. ➢ Google Maps will display your post code, and your location at street
level, leaving the perpetrators a GPS of your exact location. E.g., I am one of
10 houses in my road, and all three perpetrators know where I live. Even if, they did not, it would only take a
modicum of intelligence to ask one of nine neighbours, mostly private, where I
reside. ➢ Once swapped your new address will never be a 'safe address' as the
Tenant and their family knows where you have gone and no amount of verbal
assurances of non disclosure would make me feel safe. That is why, I have since chosen to go public
about these and other issues that affect people in my position. Impact of Cuts on Living Standards The impact of 'The Cuts' has also meant that I’ve been unable to buy enough food to sustain
myself, including affording fresh fruit and vegetables. After paying my bills
to keep an unwanted property, I found I could only afford to eat once a day,
which in no way meets my required daily amount (RDA) of vitamins. Prior to Christmas 2013, cooked food also became a
particular tricky event when my cooker was deemed unsafe. My gas cooker had
been unsafe for use since 2012 and therefore I was unable to cook food. The
Housing Association failed in addressing this problem as well as my request for
a transfer/managed move. As well as the constant requests since 2010 for
additional door locks on my rear patio doors - allegedly covered by housing
'Target Hardening' measures. Cold clean food, I found, was limited only by my
imagination and purse. Needless to say, there are periods when I feel extreme
anxiety, and for days on end, I cannot eat; when the very thought of eating,
even clean unprocessed food makes me feel nauseous. Consequently, I’ve lost 5 stone in weight and am now under
weight. I have partly funded and
purchased a new cooker in January with the support of a local trust, which
still sits in the hallway waiting for the Housing Association to remove their
dangerous appliance, so that I may have my cooker fitted. I am still awaiting an answer on this. In order to keep a roof over my head I have had
to make many sacrifices. E.g. I have no land line, no broadband, no television,
one light on in the room in which I’m using, next to no heating over winter, no holidays, restricted water
due to metered consumption and no social pursuits. The health impact of this is
one of isolation and oppression. Others, like myself, when I was working, would
take these norms for granted. Impact of Cuts on Health & Education Having suffered my second mental health
breakdown in the past 19 years, which is directly attributed to my experiences
of Domestic Abuse and in order to put my life back on track, I decided to
return to my earlier established career by using my own experiences once again.
I tactically decided for my health and to further my career to study 'The
Dynamics of Domestic Violence' at Worcester University. The MA, which launched in 2010, is the first of
its kind in the UK and places are highly sought after. It was stimulating and
engaging and I was truly privileged to have been one of the first 40 to
undertake the course. Essentially, the then £125pm was invested in travel, to and from University and related
expenses. I was devastated to learn the news that in 2012 the draconian Tory's
passed another diktat, to take effect in April 2013 that would impoverish, yet
further, people in my position. I was struggling to get my career back,
something I am most passionate and committed to. I had no choice but to intercalate,
until the following year... and I then realised much to my distress that a
house exchange wasn't going to be imminent, as was suggested. I needed to withdraw, due to escalating
financial, health, and personal issues, in order to take up the Master's at a
later date. Impact of Agency Failure on Housing & Safe Address After a threat to kill by my first husband in
2011, I telephoned my local council and was put through to the Homeless
Officer, who coldly told me, that my only option was to go to "bed and
breakfast" accommodation, since I was not being "physically
abused" at that time. No empathy was displayed, and no other housing funds
or Support Agency options were offered nor discussed with me at the 'point of
contact'. Knowing this to be incorrect, and feeling sick
to my stomach with the professionals' apparent lack of knowledge, empathy,
training in Domestic Abuse, and 'Duty of Care', I subsequently disengaged. Because of Police failure to record this
incident correctly and to pass on the information to the relevant trained
Domestic Abuse Team to be recorded on their DASH system, this has had a knock
on effect; the Housing Association did, and still does not even now, take this
seriously! I did not engage, again with the Council, until
March this year. I was informed by a refreshingly very friendly and empathetic
'Housing Team Worker' that a 'Homeless Prevention Fund' is available to victims
and struggling survivors who are able to access 'suitable accommodation'
through a Letting Agent. Essentially, the Council will fund the agency fees and
provide £25 per week
towards the rent, payable for up to one year only. A removal fund may also be
available. (please check with your local Council that this is available to you
in your area.) My issues are these: ➢ Not all Letting Agents will house individuals on benefits, as
predominately we are all deemed 'unsuitable' by private Landlords and by most
letting agencies, no matter who we are or how we have been reduced to live on
benefits. ➢ It is not taken into account that we need a move to safety to give us
the protection and enable peace of mind to become gainfully employed. ➢ An individual in my situation will be hard pressed to find a one or
two bed-roomed private flat, maisonette or house cheaper than their two or
three bed-roomed house, even taking into account the additional £25 per week. Twice since 2011 I have requested that the
Housing Association offer me a 'Managed Move', or a 'Housing Transfer', as it
is also known, so that I can live somewhere safe of my choosing and live free
from fear, to enable me to move forward in my life and regain my career. My
first request was dismissed as 'Home Swapper' came into being, and my Housing
Manager assured me that this was truly my best option. My original request was not to my knowledge
forwarded to the Housing Board to be discussed as a point of 'Duty of Care' for
a Domestic Violence victim. To date I am
still waiting for the Housing Association to contact the Police regarding a
recent threat to kill. For three years I have advertised continuously on 'Home
Swapper'. I am prepared to move anywhere, and yet I am also still waiting. Why
We Need Eve's Law & Eve's Marker 'Eve's Law' would
protect us in Law. Should you or I need to Court for any reason our safe
address including any detailed personal information will be kept confidential
from the Perpetrator/s. 'Eve's Marker' will inform Police and relevant
agencies, that when you or I move to a safe address, that this will be
recognized and flagged as a 'Safe Address'. Current
practice flouts Human Rights Law and government policy and places us at risk.
An
Unwanted Property & Poor Economic Management The property I live in bears the hall marks of additional
abuse from my second husband, which was a 'Sham Marriage'. Living with the
daily reminders of his abusive behaviours is still having a significant
deleterious effect on my health and well being. Few seem to understand that
nothing can take the traumatic events away: they are literally tangible. I feel
entombed daily by the impact this has had. Sometimes I feel suicidal, as my
seven year situation is actually quite overwhelming at times. Whether or not I am feeling severe distress, I
wear an impenetrable mask. Not all victims/struggling survivors present in the
same way, so throw away your text book norms! I may be a professional who has
worked in the Domestic Violence remit, but this does not preclude me from the
similar experiences that all other victims go through. As a professional you do
not get any special treatment or any more understanding or duty of care; you
are just another victim falling through the inadequate political net. I now find myself also caught in this Doomsday
Housing Tax Trap. I am but only one of thousands of victims/struggling
survivors in this situation in social or privately rented housing. In 2011, I should have been transferred and re-housed,
keeping my secure tenancy, living in a safe area and with a 'Safe Address', to
enable me to take back control of my life and more importantly my career in
Domestic Violence. But this 'Diktat' Housing Tax Policy that Cameron had
swiftly brought in offers no protection and no support to enable a victim,
struggling survivors of Domestic Violence and their children. This example alone, is, and will, cost the
economy more money in the long term. The salary I can command is a modest
average of 25k per annum; this is due to the fact that my happiness and passion
lies within the Third Sector: seven years financial loss to myself, and
importantly to the economy. On Balance It beggars belief: the ignorance and naivety of
some of my peers and professionals' attitudes that is still displayed after
years of struggling to raise awareness of the 'Dynamics of Domestic Violence'.
E.g., An educated female peer I met recently, believes that "like attracts
like". Challenging attitudes needs addressing with ongoing front-line training
in all sectors. One only need to look at the statistics of how
many women are affected, commit suicide or are murdered every week in the UK
alone, let alone the thousands more children affected at all ages from the
entire social spectrum. This has not
been addressed by Graylings Cuts and Gove in Education. Challenging Abuse needs
to be addressed at all levels of Education. The NSPCC is addressing this most
admirably, but the Government needs to recognise and understand that prevention
costs less than the cure. Domestic Violence is escalating at an alarming
rate; this will have long term devastating financial and emotional impact on
families across the social spectrum and a collective financial impact on
families and the economy at large. Domestic Violence and those that work in the
remit in the Third Sector, including all Statutory Agencies, need more funding
from Government to address this. The Government has made drastic cuts to Refuge
Housing, Legal Aid, Police, Probation, Mental Health provision, as well as
Education. On balance, we cannot expect a good model of a
countywide co-ordinated response with under-resourced services and inadequate
funding to provide protection and positive outcomes. ➢
How many thousands of
women have in the past, and will die needlessly in the future in the UK? ➢
How many more will lose
their health, jobs and careers as a result of Domestic Violence? Ø We
need a call for action in a UK 'Domestic Violence Law Reform'. Please see:
www.womensaid.org.uk
and ➢
To include Eves Law &
Eves Marker to protect victims & struggling survivors. Please see: www.evethomas.co.uk "Enough is enough" Thank you for taking the
time to read my first article Vanessa. |
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