If organisations such as ours are not exempt from the extension of the benefit cap to social housing,the lives of women fleeing domestic violence are at riskRefuge opened the worlds first womens refuge in 1971. Women and children flocked to our doors. For the first time somebody was saying to them: “This is not acceptable, and it is not your fault.” Since then we have become the largest single provider of specialist refuge accommodation in the country. final year 1500 women and children fleeing domestic violence were kept secure in our refuges. Yet now our emergency accommodation may be under threat.
Refuge is a social landlord. If organisations such as ours are not exempted from the government’s decision to extend Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to social housing – effectively a cap on housing benefit – it could mean the collapse of the sector we started more than 40 years ago.
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Source: theguardian.com