Theresa May will force all councils to provide domestic abuse victims with safe accommodation
THERESA May today reveals all councils are to be forced by law to protect domestic abuse victims by giving them safe accommodation.
The PM says the tough new move will end the “postcode lottery” of differing responses to the scourge around the country.
Instead, every local authority will be under a new legal requirement to provide secure accommodation for tormented partners as well as their children.
The ground breaking new law is a victory for The Sun’s Give Me Shelter campaign, which backed charity Women’s Aid’s call for it.
Writing for The Sun today, the Prime Minister insists there is “no place in our country” for the physical and mental cruelty, saying: “Together we must and will defeat it”.
Mrs May adds: “Whoever you are, wherever you live and whatever the abuse you face, you will have access to the services you need to be safe.
‘I AM DETERMINED TO DELIVER’
“That is what The Sun has rightly called for. And it is what I am determined to deliver.”
There are two million victims of domestic violence in Britain, which sees two women killed by their partners each week.
But the new law will spark furious demands from councils for more money to pay for extra homes, despite an additional £22 million to help them from the Government in November last year.
Welcoming the move last night, Women’s Aid boss Nicki Norman said: “We look forward to working with the government to ensure that this important move to fund refuges is safe, sustainable and delivers the resources that services urgently require to support all women and children fleeing domestic abuse”.
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Communities Secretary James Brokenshire added: “Domestic abuse destroys lives and I am determined to drive the change necessary to ensure families never have to endure the pain of domestic abuse in silence.
The new law builds on a landmark Domestic Abuse Bill which will introduce the first ever statutory government definition of domestic abuse to specifically include economic abuse.
It will also establish a new Domestic Abuse Commissioner and prohibit the cross-examination of victims by their abusers in the family courts.
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