Calls for single-sex housing for vulnerable women in Devon

BBC News

7 days ago

A charity working with victims of sexual violence is calling for action to stop vulnerable women being housed in emergency accommodation with men.Devon Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Services said it was "deeply concerned" by reports women fleeing domestic and sexual violence in Torbay were not always housed in female-only accommodation.Chief executive Dr Davina Cull said: "Many of these women have experienced extreme trauma at the hands of men. Being placed in mixed-sex settings can feel unsafe, retraumatising."A government spokesman said: "It's clear local authorities should ensure sufficient, suitable support in safe accommodation is available to meet the needs of domestic abuse victims."
Dr Cull said women needed access to trauma-informed, women-only spaces where they could begin to heal in safety and dignity. "Emergency housing must not add to the harm these women have already endured," she said. She urged the government to "commit proper, sustained funding to ensure safe, specialist accommodation is available across the country".
Leigh, a survivor of domestic abuse, who works at Patchwork House Women's Centre in Torquay, said several women had spoken of their traumatic experiences while living in mixed-sex accommodation."We have had women in a shared house who won't leave their bedroom because they are fearful of coming out to men drunk or on drugs, or to inappropriate sexual innuendos," she said.Leigh said in some cases women had been placed in emergency accommodation with a large number of men."For women who have fled and need safety and support, being housed with multiple men is traumatising and really affects them mentally," she said.She added that the women needed a safe space to recover from what they had been through but were being further traumatised.
Psychiatrist Dr Karina Da Cunha said that, in her role as an independent practitioner in Torbay, she had worked with women fleeing abuse and had witnessed their deterioration after they were housed with men."In one case, the patient stopped eating, drinking, and was so afraid she started barricading her door. She even tried to take her own life," said Dr Da Cunha.She said she had urged Torbay Council to re-house the patient urgently but this did not happen. When she re-visited the patient 18 months later, she did not recognise the person she had been trying to help. "She was psychotic and confused and she had lost a lot of weight. She had even cut her hair to look like a man to protect herself."
'Dangerous and traumatising'
Amanda Greenwood is chief executive of Trevi, a charity based in the South West of England which supports more than 1,000 women and children every year.She said: "Placing women who have fled domestic abuse into mixed or male-only accommodation is not just unsuitable; it's dangerous and deeply retraumatising. "For many women, these environments mirror the unsafe and violent circumstances they have fled, compounding their trauma and undermining their chances of recovery."We need to ensure that every woman fleeing domestic violence has access to accommodation that truly meets her needs."
A spokesperson for The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the reports of vulnerable women being housed with men were "extremely concerning". "We are clear that local authorities should ensure sufficient, suitable support in safe accommodation is available to meet the needs of domestic abuse victims who need to flee their homes, and that any shared safe accommodation should be single sex."The government said it has increased funding to local authorities to £160 million for 2025-26, an uplift of £30 million from the previous year, to provide further support in safe accommodation for domestic abuse survivors.
'High demand'
Torbay Council said it was committed to providing safe accommodation for people who were homeless due to fleeing domestic abuse. A spokesperson said: "Where possible, we try to provide supported accommodation with Torbay Domestic Abuse Service (TDAS) or self-contained accommodation which is either owned or contracted by the council."Due to high levels of homelessness and demand placed on our temporary accommodation provision, we must sometimes secure additional accommodation units such as hotel accommodation, to meet our duties to homeless households. "In urgent cases, where there has been no opportunity to plan accommodation in advance, sometimes the only option available is to provide hotel accommodation. "The housing team review temporary accommodation placements daily to ensure those in hotel accommodation are moved to more suitable accommodation within our own provision as soon as possible."