'The links between domestic violence and homelessness and the extent to which help is available by victims\r'

'Introduction\r\nThis paper explores the relationship ming guide with statelessness and home(prenominal) helpated military group. Addition exclusivelyy, the paper examines the assistable office of aid which stern be entranceed by victims of domestic help force play. succession domestic strength against men, children, the elderly and homo familiars has been well documented, the well-nigh earthy sort of domestic force is the horror of women by men (Women say.org 2013 [online]). Women of a wide trudge of ages, relationship types and social, cultural and stinting backgrounds argon affect by domestic craze. The prevalent assumption is that domestic violence against women happens primarily in working sectionalisation households and is strongly correlated with alcoholism and p e rattlingwherety, and this is to about uttermost borne out by research (Hague and Malos, 1993). Studies reach plant well- define connections between classlessness and women who defend un dergone traumatic experiences such(prenominal) as neglect, abandonment and sexual ill-usage (Crisis 2006). moblessness and transiency for women and children is a common feature of the stories of some women who bring eluded domestic violence. A high priority for women who devote left abusive relationships is to secure income and lodging. However, if they argon under the age of 16, they argon unable to avail of temporary adaptation or other go for the roofless. Single mothers also governance challenges. Because they lack childc atomic number 18, they ar unable to examine employment (Miller, 1990).The following sections serve first at the ways in which rooflessness and domestic violence are connected, and then look at the ways in which aid can be fork overd.\r\nConnections between homelessness and domestic violence\r\nThe 1977 round S1-1, S20 defines a person as homeless if â€Å" in that location is no accommodation which he and anyone who normally exserts with hi m as a member of his family, or if it is probable accommodation save can non secure entry to it, either because of violence or real threat of violence from someone else residing there”. There are several reasons that a fair sex might acquire homeless. These include a bereavement of familial relationships, a request to leave, unemployment, married disputes, eviction, and nausea (Watson & Austerberry, 1996). Because women tend to construct displace incomes than men, they are much likely to be vulnerable to a enactment of chores associated with poverty, including homelessness. Women who separate from their fellows put on the line relocating to substandard lodgment, or universe left without lodgment at all. Indeed, non all households considered to be homeless are entitled to accommodation. nigh governing consider homelessness due to domestic violence to be â€Å"intentional homelessness” (Watson & Austrereberry, 1996).\r\nWomen who are victims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse or other traumas subsequently a lot find themselves victims of homelessness because they are frequently considered by topical anesthetic authorities to be insufficiently vulnerable (as defined by homelessness legislations) to qualify for priority demand. This is less common for single mothers, moreover without a child in the household it is very difficult for a cleaning cleaning woman to be deemed vulnerable luxuriant for temporary admit.\r\nIt is finish up that women are confronted with the double challenge of being two domestic violence victims and also at risk of becoming poor, homeless single mothers (Baker, Cook and Norris, 2003). In format to escape domestic violence stemming from a render, women may be agonistic to leave their homes. bolshie analyses suggest that women a lot fall into low-income brackets because they are a part of a capitalist, patriarchal society that leads to a gender-based division of labour (Maidment 2006). When women do achieve economic independence, their earnings tend to be significantly lower than men’s, this being the result of a gendered pecking order of occupations where women’s typical occupations are concentrated at lower levels of the job market, and with women qualification up the bulk of those in part-time jobs. Because women are forced to depone economically on men, their results with domestic violence and abuse are exacerbated. Thus, a significant build of women anticipate ignorant of any avail that’s potentially open, and consequently the issue of repeat homelessness is still a concern. An authorised matter to consider is the lack of women-only housing. oerall, the issue remains that homeless women are not aditioning the actualize and help they need (Reeve, Casey, and Gouldie, 2006). Despite the progress in past decades in polity and legislation regarding homelessness, homeless women still position daunting challenges. While amend leg islation and policy survive, women’s broader circumstances, exigencys and vulnerabilities are not deportn into consideration by topical anesthetic anaesthetic anesthetic authorities. This means that they are much denied the assistance necessary to access accommodation (Reeve, Casey and Gouldie, 2006). In some cases, women who are experiencing marital violence †physical or mental †are asked to return to their homes and rely on legal processes to eat up their abuser from the home (Women’s National Commission, 1983), which is clear unsatisfactory as it places them at risk of encourage abuse. Therefore, women who are unable to independently access the fiscal or social resources necessary to enter the housing market may be forced to live with domestic and family violence simply because of lack of alternatives (Chung, et al 2000). At the same time, if they feel unable to stay living in the home, they are likely to face total homelessness. Women at risk o ften strain their local authority for assistance. Local authorities may take hold a duty to provide protective cover (Shelter 2013), and must be aware of any local connections a woman may have in relocation areas, due to the potential threat of violence from those local connections. However, in practice there seems to be many an(prenominal) shortfalls in the provision of care by local authorities. In one survey, the majority of women who said they had approached local authorities for homelessness assistance reported exceedingly negative experiences (Hague and Malos 1993). Some mentioned being ‘turned onward at the door,’ while others claimed to have been discouraged from fashioning a formal application for assistance. The women reported the local authority staff they dealt with had preconceived notions of who was deserving of assistance and who was not (Hague and Malos, 1993). Of those surveyed, more than one- trio had never approached the local authorities for homelessness assistance. Of the women who did seek assistance, less than one third were condition priority need status, and 28% were goaded to be homeless by intention (Reeve, Casey and Goudie, 2006). Where women do receive assistance, this is frequently less than adequate. For example, women are often given temporary accommodation in hostels, posterior and breakfasts or backstage housing. Domestic violence from husbands or male partners is typically linked to marital or partnership difficulties, for example different expectations. If a woman is forced to leave her home due to partner violence, her difficulties may be exacerbated because in leaving her partner she may also be leaving her pecuniary security. Additionally, homelessness legislation has newly been restricted in order to prevent it from being used as an access demo for coherent-lasting housing. The loss of a home is in itself an additional traumatic element which adds to the mixed problems of domestic or relatio nship violence. Women who leave their homes to escape domestic violence may also face the challenge of needing to find a job that pays a living wage, and this difficulty may be heighten by the fact that women in this situation often have only employment experience. It has been reported that women who have been exposed to domestic violence are win to poverty and unemployment (Byrne et al., 1999).\r\nThe diminished substance of cheap housing entrepot leads to further challenges in attaining ageless housing. The amount of housing constructed by London councils and housing associations has decrease significantly †from 21,147 in 1978 to 2,490 in 1996 (Reeve, Casey and Goudie, 2006). Therefore, though local authorities are required to find brisk housing for a vast number of people, they have to do so with a shrinking stock of desirable housing. In one survey of homeless persons, 14% of respondents reported leaving their most recent home due to domestic violence †making it the second highest cause of homelessness. When this question is restricted to reasonable women, the number rises to 20%. These people all named their abusers as someone they knew, including family members, partners and local drug dealers. In the 41-50 family old age bracket, 40% of women cited domestic violence as the main cause of their homelessness, identifying it as the number one cause of homelessness for this age group (Reeve, Casey and Goudie, 2006).\r\nWhat assistance are victims of domestic violence able to seek?\r\nA refuge acts as a pencil eraser net for domestic violence victims in the prompt aftermath of leaving the domestic home. Refuges typically provide short-term accommodation, legal help, support groups and children’s schedule (Baker, Cook and Norris, 2003). They offer an urgently needed respectable space for abused women and their children, and work to help women go back control of their own lives. Thus, refuges meet the primary requirement of wome n fleeing domestic violence †safe emergency shelter. to a greater extent well-equipped refuges are also able to offer facilities for childcare and creative play. The women’s aid movement has been implemental in making refuges available to homeless women. Refuges have become a boon for women fleeing domestic violence, but it is still difficult for single women without children to gain access or temporary accommodation (Watson and Austerberry, 1996). Women who are forced to remain in the refuge for a commodious period of time experience stress and fretting brought on by living in a public, crowded space. Residents must share rooms and amenities, which can lead to struggles. This is an increasing problem, as women currently housed in temporary refuges are facing ever-longer waits for permanent housing to become available (Ozga, 2005). Additionally, the fairly strict rules that exist in some refuges can deter some women from using them, and some refuges fail to meet the inevitably of some groups of women, including women with disabilities, young women and women with mental health disabilities (Chung et al, 2000). In 1988 the British government decided that the need for housing should be met by housing associations and local authorities should become â€Å"enablers and regulators”. That is, local housing authorities should become a residual welfare sector. The 1988 Housing Act therefore visualised housing associations taking over the role of provider of social housing quite of local authorities. The statutory obligations to provide shelter and permanent housing to homeless people still practise to housing authorities (Charles 1994). Additionally, housing associations are more and more involved in the provision of accommodation, though local authorities are still the first point of contact in terms of rehousing for women and children leaving refuges. The problem is exacerbated because there is a shortfall in both(prenominal) refuge accom modation and temporary or permanent accommodation for women escaping domestic violence. Women and children typically stay in refuges for three months or even longer. Previous studies had showed that many of these women leaving refuges are permanently rehoused, however many others return home, either to their abusive partner or with an exclusion order (Chung et al, 2000). The other option is the private rental sector but this is usually not a realistic one. For many women is not an option to rent privately because private landlords not allow in tenants who are dependent on benefits or who have children, and where landlords do take these women they often do not offer secure tenancies. In addition, the rent is very expensive and most of the women cannot afford to pay. The high cost of private housing, even with the help of housing benefit, has led to some women being unable to access capable locations or taking houses in locations that were not sufficient to their needs, such as ho mes which are a long distances from schools, and are not close to public transports or other facilities. Such housing arrangements are marvellous to be sustainable in the long term, and women are likely to continue seeking more suited accommodation, therefore continuing to be unsettled (Chung et al, 2000).\r\n evidence\r\nDomestic and family violence are major factors alter to women’s and children‘s homelessness. Women are still fleeing domestic and family violence for their own safety because the legal arrangement cannot guarantee their protection. Despite the economic and social photo of many such women, they often feel they have no choice but to escape a situation where they have no power and are subject to violence and abuse. The responsibility of support networks is scathing for assisting women in living in relationships free of violence. It is important that housing assistance is available to women who become homeless due to domestic or familial violence. Pro viding women and children with affordable and safe housing must be a priority, or assistance must be given to help find steady, affordable and appropriate accommodation within a short period of time. Over the long-term, it is important to expand the amount of affordable and suitable housing available, guarantee satisfactory incomes, and offer the innate support services for current and future needs of all homeless persons. It would also be best(predicate) for domestic violence and practice guidelines to encompass policy commitments for women who have traditionally been deemed not vulnerable enough and denied rehousing assistance. These women include those without children, those who experience domestic violence stemming from impertinent of their homes, those who have disabilities, and those who lack meaningful local connections. The heterogeneity of women’s experiences of domestic violence cannot be underestimated, and gives a clear indication of the need for women to be authorize to make real choices about what strategies they wish to take to ending the violence in their lives.\r\nReferences\r\nBaker,C, Cook, S, and Norris, F, 2003, Domestic violence and housing problems: A Contextual Analysis of Women’s Help-Seeking, Received Informal Support, and Formal System solvent, [online] http://socialsciences.people.hawaii.edu/publications_lib/domestic%20violence%20and%20housing.pdf accessed 02/11/13\r\nCharles, N, 1994, Domestic Violence, Homelessness and Housing: the Response of Housing Providers in Wales, Critical Social Policy, vol.14, no.2 (41), p.36-52.\r\nChung, D, et al, 2000, Home Safe Home, The link between domestic and family violence and women’s homelessness, Australia, Pirion Pty Limited.\r\nCrisis (2006) ‘Homeless Women’, Crisis, London.Hague, G, Malos, E, 1993, Domestic violence act For Change, Cheltenham, New Clarion Press.\r\nMaidment, M R (2006) Doing season on the Outside: Deconstructing the Benevolent Commu nity, Canada, University of Toronto Press.\r\nMiller, M, 1990, Bed and breakfast: Women and Homelessness Today, London, Cox and Wyman.\r\nOzga, J, 2005, Domestic abuse and Homelessness legislation, http://www.scottishwomensaid.org.uk/sites/default/files/SWA_Domestic_abuse_and_homelessness_legislation.pdf, accessed 03/12/13\r\nReeve, K, Casey, R, Goudi, R, 2006, Homeless Women: Still being failed yet striving to survive. http://www.crisis.org.uk/publications-search.php?fullitem=182 accessed 30/11/13.\r\nShelter (2013) ‘Homelessness legality and domestic violence’, [online] (cited 21st December 2013) available from\r\nhttp://shop.shelter.org.uk/training/homelessness-law-domestic-violence.html\r\nWatson, S, Austerberry, 1996, Housing and homelessness: A feminist Perspective, London, Routlege & Kegan Paul.\r\nWomensaid.org (2013) ‘Statistics just about Domestic Violence’, [online] (cited 21st\r\n'