Report: Rebuilding lives after domestic violence
A report examined how women and children who experienced domestic violence rebuilt their lives after physically removing themselves from the control and coercion exerted by the perpetrator.
It examined post-separation abuse, experience of services and the legal system, changes in housing situation, and how informal networks facilitated or inhibited their safety and freedom.
The report said that over 90 per cent of women experienced post-separation abuse, and that the limited effectiveness of criminal and civil law enforcement required them proactively to manage their own safety.
It made a range of recommendations, including:
- for access to a range of support for a minimum of two years after separation, recognizing that the process of rebuilding lives took time;
- for better understanding by staff within statutory agencies, particularly regarding issues related to coercive control;
- for nationally funded refuge provision, with move on pathways and better provisions for access to social housing tenancies;
- for universal credit to be paid to women where children were involved;
- for central government to provide hardship funding for families fleeing domestic violence;
- for a period of grace regarding the reduction of housing benefit when the perpetrator left the family home;
- for more awareness raising among the general public to facilitate better community support as women and children made their transitions.
