THOUSANDS of domestic abuse victims and their families will get extra help from councils with a £6million cash boost to make sure those in desperate need of support are not turned away from shelters.
A landmark new law will make it a legal duty for councils to provide safe accommodations and refuges so survivors and their children can live “free from fear of abuse”.
Victims of domestic abuse will get extra help to find shelters
Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing Kelly Tolhurst said: “Survivors of domestic abuse need safe refuge in order to escape this heinous crime, and support to start to rebuild their lives.
Ms Tolhurst said fresh injection of support will give councils the means to ensure they can fulfil their duty to people trying to escape domestic abuse.
She added: “The funding I am announcing today will help councils prepare for this new duty that will see thousands more survivors helped and a generation of their children able to grow up safely and free from fear of abuse.”
There have been huge surges in people contacting domestic abuse helplines during the crisis as fears of people being trapped inside with abusive partners or family members skyrocketed during lockdown.
More than 40,000 calls and contacts were made to the National Domestic Abuse Helpline during the first three months of the crisis, when the guidance was still to “stay at home”.
Most of the calls were from women.
Domestic abuse charity Refuge said that calls were 80 per cent higher than usual in June.
There was also a 54 per cent increase in the number of women trying to flee from abusers.
The new funding will give councils the cash to plan extra accommodation and services for victims ahead of the new law coming into force in April next year.
A £10 million emergency fund to help domestic abuse victims during the coronavirus crisis has already been launched, to make over 1,500 new beds available and re-open 344 bed spaces for those most in need.
