Domestic abuse

Domestic abuse claims the life of 2 women every week and affects millions of people. One incident of domestic abuse is reported to the police every minute.

The Government definition of domestic violence and abuse is:

“Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality”

This can encompass, but is not limited to the following types of abuse:

• Psychological abuse includes intimidation, insults, isolating the person from friends and family, criticising, denying the abuse, treating the person as inferior, threatening to harm children or take them away, forced marriage.
• Physical abuse can include shaking, smacking, punching, kicking, presence of finger or bite marks, bruising, starving, tying up, stabbing, suffocation, throwing things, using objects as weapons, female genital mutilation. Physical effects are often in areas of the body that are covered and hidden (i.e. breasts, legs and stomach).
• Sexual abuse includes rape (including the threat of rape), sexual assault, forced prostitution, ignoring religious prohibitions about sex, refusal to practice safe sex, sexual insults, passing on sexually transmitted diseases, preventing breastfeeding.
• Financial abuse includes not letting the person work, undermining efforts to find work or study, refusing to give money, asking for an explanation of how every penny is spent, making the person beg for money, gambling, not paying bills, building up debt in the other person’s name.
• Emotional abuse includes swearing, undermining confidence, making racist, sexist or other derogatory remarks, making the person feel unattractive, calling the person stupid or useless, eroding the person’s independence, keeping them isolated from family or friends.

If you recognise any of these behavioural traits, try not to ignore the signs and seek help for the sake of you and your children.

Domestic abuse is far more widespread than you may think and is rarely a one-off incident and will usually escalate over time. It becomes a pattern of behaviour that allows one partner to establish and maintain power and control over the other.

If you are in an abusive relationship, there are important steps you must take:

• Recognise it is happening to you
• Accept that you are not to blame
• Get help and support

For information on the support for those affected by domestic abuse visit the Southend, Essex and Thurrock Domestic Abuse Board (SETDAB) website.

Housing options

If you are experiencing domestic abuse, one of the biggest decisions you will make is whether or not to leave your home.

If you decide to leave, then you will need to consider where you / your family will live.

If you do not have anywhere to stay or are in any doubt about your housing options, then you should seek housing advice from our homelessness team. We will discuss your circumstances and talk through the options available to you, which will vary depending upon what is considered safe and appropriate for your needs.

Options might include:

• Making a homelessness application
• Applying to go on the housing register
• Securing a place in a refuge
• Looking into applying for private accommodation

It might be that you do not wish to leave your home, in which case our homelessness officers can discuss measures that would allow you to remain your home safely. This could be the provision of a sanctuary scheme or other security measures, or help with access to legal remedies such as injunctions where these might be effective.

Our prevention and relief duties

Whether you are threatened with homelessness in 56 days, or you will become homeless in 56 days or you are already homeless, an assessment will be completed to determine the duties that we owe to you when applying for assistance, taking into account all of the relevant circumstances.

We will also help you to develop a personal housing plan, which details the reasonable steps that you and us will take to prevent or relieve your homelessness. The steps included in your plan will be sensitive to your wishes, with your safety being a primary consideration.

Find more about how we can help you.

Providing suitable accommodation

There are a number of accommodation options for victims of domestic abuse. Which options are most appropriate will be different for each person and will be decided on a case by case basis taking into account their circumstances and needs.

This may include safe temporary accommodation and / or a priority transfer if you are living in a property within our own housing stock. We may, for example, provide temporary accommodation whilst action is taken to exclude or to arrest and detain a perpetrator.

The location of any accommodation offered by us, under our prevention, relief or main housing duties, will require careful consideration. Any risk of violence in a particular locality will need to be taken into account.

Where domestic violence is involved and an applicant is not able to stay in their current home, we may need to consider the need for accommodation away from the locality, which has security measures and appropriately trained staff to protect the occupants. In some cases, an out of district placement may be necessary.

Refuges and support services

For victims at risk from highly dangerous perpetrators, refuges will usually be the most appropriate choice. Refuges provide key short term, intensive support for those who flee from abuse. The length of time a person might spend in a refuge is often dependent upon how much support they need.

When the time is right for you, there may be opportunities to move you into temporary accommodation (in the absence of settled accommodation) which may be more appropriate, potentially with floating support if needed.

To support victims of domestic abuse, we work closely with Safer Places, an independent domestic abuse charity. Safer Places is dedicated to supporting adults and children affected by domestic abuse. They provide a wide range of support services in response to an individual’s needs and circumstances, whether it be in their refuge accommodation or out in the community.

Local connection

Victims of domestic abuse can approach any local housing authority for homeless assistance, regardless of whether or not they have a local connection. If that person or any person who might be reasonably expected to live with them, would be a risk of violence and abuse in the Epping Forest district with which they have a connection.

Domestic abuse and eligibility

People who have no recourse to public funds are not generally eligible for homelessness assistance. However, the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession supports those who have entered or stayed in the UK as a spouse, unmarried partner, same-sex or civil partner of a British Citizen, or settled citizen and this relationship has permanently broken down due to domestic violence and abuse.

You may be eligible if:

• You came to the UK or were granted leave to stay in the UK as a spouse or partner of a British Citizen or someone settled in the UK
• Your relationship has permanently broken down due to domestic violence and abuse

If one of these applies, you can apply to the Home Office for limited leave to remain (three months) under the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession, to enable you to access public funds and advice, whilst you prepare and apply for indefinite leave to remain, or make alternative arrangements.

Sanctuary scheme

Sanctuary schemes can prevent homelessness by enabling victims to remain safely in their home where it is their choice, and it is safe to do so. A sanctuary comprises enhanced security measures in the home which delay or prevent a perpetrator from gaining entry into and within a property, and allow time for the police to arrive. Use of sanctuary is not appropriate if the perpetrator lives at, or retains a legal right to enter the home, or if the victim continues to be at risk in the vicinity around the home.

You may be eligible if:

• You came to the UK or were granted leave to stay in the UK as a spouse or partner of a British Citizen or someone settled in the UK
• Your relationship has permanently broken down due to domestic violence and abuse

If one of these applies, you can apply to the Home Office for limited leave to remain (three months) under the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession, to enable you to access public funds and advice, whilst you prepare and apply for indefinite leave to remain, or make alternative arrangements.