Tory policy to shame rape victims out of claiming child benefit has come into force
The form was released today as part of cuts introduced by the former Chancellor George Osborne [Image: Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images].
That’s not a rhetorical question. Let’s have your opinions.
Women who get pregnant as a result of rape will have to fill in an eight-page form to prove it before being granted benefits, the government has announced.
The Department for Work and Pensions and HMRC are the two offices that will asses applications for tax credits for a woman’s third child, if it was conceived without their consent.
Cuts introduced by the former Chancellor George Osborne have come into effect today, meaning that child tax credits will be limited to two children per family.
Women who need to claim for a third child, born as a result of rape, are exempt – but will need to prove that either:
“You did not, or could not, consent to the act that led to the conception of the child, or you were in a coercive or controlling relationship with the other parent of the child at or around the time of conception.”
Potential claimants will also have to get the form signed off by by a nurse, social care worker or health care specialist.
Source: Government Releases Form You Have To Fill In If You Want To Claim Child Benefit After Being Raped
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What if the decision makers say no and the woman has to appeal, how can she possibly prove it? I was raped at 14yrs and although I don’t have children this hurts my soul!!!
Also what about the children who might inadvertently get to know about how they were conceived, after all it is clear to me that there is no longer Any data protection!!!
It is totally sick and wicked. Like the Nazi rules which inspired WCA and other assessments it puts clerical staff in control of assessing medcal, psychiatric and now legal and moral issues. Worse still, the clerks who make the assessments and read the forms are the employees of Private companies which pay little or no Tax on their huge profits. Replacing qualified medical and legal staff with clerks is already wrong, as well as forcing rape victims to go through this extra ordeal. It also seems high intrusive and voyeuristic that they should want to know all the details of the act so that they can them make decisions about whether or not it was consensual. Creepy. Next, we all know how Disabled Assessments can be so grossly manipulated to say that a seriously disabled person is Fit For Work, I have no doubt at all that countless rape victims who do fill in the forms and go through all the extra stress and distress, will then have even more piled on them by the clerks concluding that “she was gagging for it”. < I don't intend to offend with those loaded words, but to predict what will be thought or even said by some clerks, this has already happened with Disability assessor clerks. The Brutality continues and worsens. The UN continues to do nothing useful.
The nazi party at its best you couldn’t make this up. Aktion t4 culling the stock and now blaming em for their crimes against themselves
An absolute disgrace, rather than shame the victims, why not sentence the evil rapist to hanging or life in jail meaning life.
I think you are asking the wrong question which is why is it more expensive to bring up a third or 4th child for some people other than others, surely the complaint should be why is the restriction placed on those who choose to have a third child, or more to the point if monies need to be saved why isn’t here a cut off point for incomes where the benefit is completely ended? The old system where you got nothing for the first child but extra for a second then an addition per child seems to a much fairer system.
Awful and attributable to the cancerous David Freud. Just as the law is being improved in respect to rape victim cross examination and similar this awful measure is rolled out for the poorest and most vulnerable women in the land. Hopefully children of rape will not be made to discover the origin of their birth where and when mothers decide to conceal it from them. A truly stone-hearted and utterly unworthy measure. Awful, awful, awful.
There is still no specific update on this lyiing Governments position with regard to benefits for families with more than two children. Prior to election their worthless promise was all those existing families with more than two children would not be touched only those new applications seeking new benefits or growing beyond two would not get support. ie why should those working who could not afford to have more than two children have to watch those on benefits being supported to have more children on the state. The latest update was the Cons may have gone back on their vote catching lies and that any family whoes circumstances have changed would be subject to a two child catch cap even though prior to the change of circumstances they enjoyed child benefits in excess of two children….ie going against the lying Tories mealy mouth promises. Does anyone have any feedback on this subject from their own experiences??
Another example of the pathological hatred of the working class and the vulnerable, and of course the misogyny that has been a hallmark of Tory cuts (ie punishments) where 80% of cuts have fallen on women.
Yet more hunger and poverty and real lives damaged because of this sociopathic policy.
Try to imagine the impact on the mental health of the mother when a letter arrives saying.
” I have decided that you were not raped and therefore you do not qualify for tax credits for this child. I understand your disappointment but here are my reasons.
You claim to have been raped after leaving a hotel late at night.
You already have two children by different fathers.
I have decided that you will consent to sex with multiple partners and therefore it is unlikely that you were raped on this occasion”
I received a letter saying that the decision maker had decided I can walk more than 200 meters despite having letters from my GP and consultant stating clearly that I cannot walk more than a few steps. If the DM can ignore this solid evidence at a whim, what is to stop them making a similar arbitrary decision even if the father of the child is being prosecuted? These decision makers are inevitably going to view themselves as omnipotent simply because they are given the power of a judge but with no checks or balances and they are not answerable for any harm their decisions may cause. Combine this with the pressure they are under to reject all claims and this will create the situation we are already in with ESA and PIP.
At least a judge has to look you on the eye before deciding your fate, but DM’s just sit there like Caesar or a Nazi on the ramp ticking yes or no depending on their mood and subject to their prejudice and morality.
I often think that the Nasty party can’t get any more nasty and vindictive towards sections of society they have it in for, then each week they prove me wrong. They are not just nasty, they are evil.
Picking on rape victims is totally wrong.
And you could blame the evil nasty party because it’s their fault that these rapists are released back into our society and they won’t accept that so they take away having to cough up a small amount.