Who do I tell? If I let the police know, when they have gone what is going to happen to us? Are we all going to get hurt? What if they tell social services and they take the children off me?
This is a dilemma faced by many women who are suffering at the hands of domestic abuse, according to Victoria Adamkiewicz, the Project Manager of a domestic abuse program in Gateshead.
"In a lot of cases the perpetrator will be using it as control and would probably never kill them," she explains, “but then there are cases where it does happen. You can't second-guess somebody. As a mother your job is to protect your kids, so if the thought is there that something like that could happen, you’d do anything you could to protect them.”
Victoria explains that having nowhere to go can also be a big factor preventing people from leaving an abusive relationship: "The image of refuge is somewhere really shabby and tatty and horrible, they think "my child is going to be sleeping in a flea infested bed" but actually the hostel they'd be placed in in Gateshead isn't like that. It's still a hostel, but it’s immaculate, and it’s very safe."
The victims trapped in these situations are just some of the ones hidden from government figures – too scared to come forward. If they did they would be classed as homeless and in priority need. Government legislation says that someone who is experiencing domestic violence will be considered to be homeless if it is unreasonable for them to occupy their home because it is probable it will lead to violence against them.
Fortunately, Victoria said that recent changes have allowed victims to stay in their homes more often, rather than being forced to leave if they call the police. Since June 2014, police have been able to issue temporary protection notices and orders, which prevent the abuser from returning to the home for between 14 and 28 days. She said: “Now they try to keep the victim at the property and remove the perpetrator. The temporary protection notice gives them a period of time to seek legal advice and speak to housing services. It’s almost similar to a restraining order.
“That’s the way they seem to be trying to work now, because why should the victim and children be removed from the house and punished for something that isn’t their fault?”
While these measures may be preventing some people becoming homeless because of domestic abuse, a Freedom of Information request submitted for this investigation revealed that in the last financial year, 331 people were declared homeless across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and Durham. This is a slight drop from 351 2013/14, which could be down to the new way of working. A full breakdown across the council areas can be seen in the graph below:
But research by the homeless charity St Mungo’s highlights how official figures are unlikely to capture the true extent of homelessness because of domestic abuse. Women involved with their services tell them that they take more care to conceal themselves when sleeping rough, so often they will not be counted in official counts. In their report 'Rebuilding Shattered Lives’ they explain that many women will be 'hidden homeless’, where they may be sofa surfing, staying with family and friends or in some cases squatting or living in crack houses where they may be engaged in prostitution.
Victoria admits this is something her and the other workers on the program have encountered, particularly with people using their new ‘Serial Victims’ program, for those who have experienced domestic abuse from two or more perpetrators. She said: “Sometimes they can be involved with drugs and alcohol and can stay in a bit of a doss house. They might be sofa surfing and their abuser might also be their drug provider, or the person who pimps them out – because that happens as well. So it’s not as easy as just stopping the violence, there’s a bigger picture going on around it.”
Claire Armstrong added:
“Sometimes the domestic abuse is just a small part of it and victims can have so many other things going on they can find it hard to deal with. Once you start to unpick you can sometimes find you’ve got a bit of a hornet's nest going on.”
Because these women would be classed as 'hidden homeless' – unrepresented in government figures, it is impossible to know how many fall into this category. But for those who do come forward to access homelessness services, St Mungo’s revealed that almost half of women had experienced domestic abuse, a third of these said that the domestic violence had contributed to their homelessness. This was also the case with eight per cent of men.
The data gathered in the Freedom of Information request shows North Tyneside council have seen the figures of people becoming homeless because of domestic abuse more than double in four years – the biggest rise across the area looked at. A spokesperson for North Tyneside Council said: “At North Tyneside Council we have a strong record of supporting individuals who are at risk of homelessness, including those individuals fleeing from abusive situations.
“We provide a domestic abuse support service for both female and male victims over the age of 16. The service includes a dedicated refuge and outreach support, independent domestic violence advisors as well as group work and support sessions. In addition to this we also provide dedicated therapeutic support for children and young people who have witnessed domestic abuse.”
Meanwhile, although Sunderland's population is higher than many of its neighbours, the number of people declared homeless due to domestic abuse is much lower at only 12 for the full year.
A Sunderland City Council spokesman said: “The City Council works closely with many organisations, including social housing landlords, to help prevent homelessness through or because of domestic abuse.
“The council, and others, all have rigorous checks and procedures in place to help prevent incidents escalating. Nonetheless, the council acknowledges that any incident of domestic violence is one too many and work on prevention and awareness is continuing.”
These figures can allow us to see how each area is dealing with domestic abuse to prevent it leading to homelessness. But for the hidden homeless who may be trapped in a cycle of drugs, alcohol and abuse, Victoria wonders whether some will ever break the cycle: “Some of them are so heavily involved in it because of how they’re living, it’s all they know.” Claire added: “All we can do is help them the best we can and help others to try and prevent them from getting to that stage."
