Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

9.25
9.26
9.27
a long-term solution. 55
In April 2012, the Government launched the Destitution Domestic Violence (DDV) Concession,
which allows women access to public funds if their last visa was a spouse/civil partner/
unmarried partner and if they are destitute, have experienced violence and are planning
to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK under the Domestic Violence Rule. 56
Although the women’s sector has welcomed this permanent concession, they continue
to campaign to extend the scheme to the many women currently excluded, including
those on other types of visa, EEA citizens and non-EEA family members of EEA citizens,
overstayers, overseas domestic workers and trafficked women not accepted into the National
Referral Mechanism (NRM). 57
It is also important to note the differential treatment by different local authority Social Services
Departments of destitute women with children, whether refused asylum seekers, overstayers or
otherwise with ‘no recourse to public funds’, who are fleeing DV but are not eligible for the DDV
concession. The UN CRC 58 and the UK Children Act 1989 59 require local authority Social Services
Departments to consider the ‘best interests of the child’ and give the local authority power
to provide accommodation and financial support not just to the children themselves but to
their parents, even where the parent is an overstayer or otherwise not entitled to public funds.
However, this is not widely understood, and destitute women with children often need to take
legal proceedings to obtain accommodation and support.
Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 requires Local Authorities to “provide accommodation
for any child in need within their area”, but this only explicitly imposes the duty to house the
child. 60 So, the local authority’s duty is usually interpreted as an obligation to house the child,
but not the family, and there have been cases where the child is separated from their family
and put under the care of the Local Authorities. This is a breach of the right to family life and
often contradicts the best interests of the child (there is sufficient case law establishing
this 61 ). However, when families do not have legal representation or know their rights, they
are sometimes threatened with separation nonetheless since it is easier to accommodate
separated children than whole families. 62 (See Appendix: 8 for further information)
Recommendation:
Extend the Destitution Domestic Violence Concession to all women who are subjected
to domestic violence or abuse and immigration control so that they are exempt from
the restriction on access to public funds and health and social care services
54. See Campaign to Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds http://thewomensresourcecentre.org.uk/our-work/no-recourse-to-public-funds/
Accessed: 18/04/13
55. Gower, M. (2012) Immigration: Domestic violence. London: House of Commons Library www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN04644.pdf
56. DVILR, in Immigration Rules Part 8 Appendix Family Members http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/policyandlaw/immigrationlaw/
immigrationrules/part8/
57. Campaign to Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds (2012), Press Release: Campaign to Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds Celebrates
Victory; Home Office Concession for Destitute Victims of Domestic Violence
58. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) www.unicef.org/crc/
59. Children Act 1989 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/contents
60. The House of Lords has ‘rejected the idea that it was unlawful for authorities to offer to provide for the children and not the parents in
these circumstances’. At the same time Local Authorities do have the power to provide accommodation for the family under Section 17
of the Act, and the Lords have acknowledged the need to look specifically at the facts of the case regarding a possible breach of Article 8
if accommodation is not provided for the family to live together (Lukes, S. (2010) A manual for people advising undocumented migrants.
Praxis, page 36 http://www.praxis.org.uk/manual-for-undocumented-migrants-page-27.html)
61. Examples of relevant case law include: Wallová and Walla v. Czech Republic, judgment of 26 October 2006 (Application no. 23848/04,
para.74-75), Saviny v. the Ukraine, 18 December 2008 (39948/06, para. 57), Havelka and others v. Czech Republic, 21 June 2007
(23499/06, para. 61), Moser v. Austria, 21 September 2006 (12643/02, para. 70, 73).
62. PICUM (2011) Building Strategies to Protect Children in an Irregular Migration Situation. Country Brief: United Kingdom. PICUM: Brussels
http://www.childmigration.net/files/PICUM_UK_Irregular_Child_Migra.pdf
76 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013