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Women\u2019s Aid\u2019s The Price of Safety report reveals the financial challenges survivors face when leaving abuse, often leading to debt or homelessness. The report calls for a more supportive social security system, with benefits that are sufficient, accessible, and tailored to survivors' needs. How can we eliminate these financial barriers? <\/em><\/p>\n Harriette Drew is a Senior Policy Officer for Women\u2019s Aid<\/a>, the national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A common myth about domestic abuse is: \u2018If it was really that bad, she\u2019d leave\u2019. But leaving is not simply a question of deciding to do so (which can itself be a difficult process). It involves navigating personal danger, children\u2019s needs and multiple different support agencies, each with different processes and criteria. And it can cost \u00a350,000 or more, including the costs of rebuilding a new life over the course of a year.<\/p>\n This is a significant amount of money for anyone, let alone for women who have faced years of economic abuse. Women\u2019s Aid\u2019s research in 2022<\/a> found that two thirds of survivors (67%) couldn\u2019t get even \u00a3500 together if they needed to. The combined effects of economic abuse and the cost-of-living crisis are reducing survivors\u2019 options.<\/p>\n Whilst support is available from the state \u2013 in the form of benefits, legal aid and grants \u2013 it does not cover the full costs survivors face. Women\u2019s Aid\u2019s new report, The Price of Safety<\/a>, finds a \u00a310,000 deficit for a survivor with a \u2018typical\u2019 fleeing journey (survivors with no recourse to public funds face double this). This deficit can push survivors who leave into debt, poverty or homelessness. Perpetrators know this. The inadequacy of financial support is something they exploit to keep survivors trapped.<\/p>\n What would it take to make the system work for survivors, rather than perpetrators? Our research shows the need for financial support which is sufficient, accessible and domestic abuse informed.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the Work and Pensions Committee noted<\/a> \u2018the wide range of evidence which suggests that benefit levels are too low\u2019 and render daily living costs unaffordable.<\/p>\n For survivors who leave, they have to cover not just daily expenses, but also the high upfront costs of setting up a new life: possessions, housing, furniture. Many do not have savings or employment income to fall back on, due to previous economic abuse<\/a>. This triple bind \u2013 low benefits, low savings, high costs \u2013 can make safety and independence near on impossible.<\/p>\n On top of this, survivors are often hit by arbitrary limits like the benefit cap. The cap disproportionately affects lone parent households, which are mostly led by women. It contributes towards homelessness<\/a> by making private rents and even some social rents unaffordable. As a result, some survivors are forced to return to the perpetrator, which exposes them and their children to more harm.<\/p>\n For the social security system to be sufficient, the level of benefits must be tied to the cost of living. The Government should scrap arbitrary caps which break the link between entitlement and need, as well as investing in funds targeted at the specific financial challenges survivors face, like the Flexible Fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The second principle is accessibility, because it doesn\u2019t matter how high benefits levels are if survivors can\u2019t receive them.<\/p>\n A major issue is that survivors on certain visas or with insecure immigration status have no recourse to public funds. This prevents them from accessing benefits and means that they face a \u00a320,000 deficit \u2013 double that of other survivors.<\/p>\n According to research by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner<\/a>, granting these survivors eligibility for public funds could lead to an additional 32,000 reports of abuse each year, enabling them to access lifesaving support. It would also result in social gains worth almost \u00a32.3 billion over 10 years.<\/p>\n For the social security system to be accessible, survivors should be exempted from the no recourse to public funds condition so they can access lifesaving benefits.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Most support is not domestic abuse informed, meaning it does not account for the trauma survivors have gone through or the reality of their current circumstances. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/h3>\n
Sufficient<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Accessible <\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Domestic abuse informed <\/strong><\/h3>\n
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