Latest news with #rapeclause
BBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Mothers in legal contest over two-child benefit cap 'rape clause'
Two women who had children when they were in violent and controlling relationships are claiming they were unfairly denied child mothers, identified only as LMN and EFG, launched a challenge to the universal credit two-child cap at Leeds Administrative Court on Tuesday and the so-called "rape clause".The exception allows for financial support for a child conceived non-consensually if that child is the third or subsequent child, but does not apply to further children if a mother's first two children were conceived after Monaghan KC, representing the women, said the rule was "irrational" and breached the women's right not to be discriminated against. She told the court that both women were young and vulnerable when they began relationships in their teens and first became explained that they were subjected to regular violence and coercion, with one describing how she was choked to unconsciousness and raped multiple times. 'Anomaly in the rules' Ms Monaghan explained how LMN had older children in care and two living with her, but then one of the older children returned to her then had three children living in her home, but she was refused an exception to the two-child limit under these "ordering provisions" relating to non-consensual Monaghan said EFG had two children who were conceived non-consensually and then another from a consensual was initially paid the child element of universal credit for this third child, but this was later rescinded, after a fourth child was Monaghan told the judge, Mrs Justice Collins Rice, the state had an obligation under Article 3, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, to ensure that "women are not penalised" and "they have the resources to support themselves".The barrister said that, if this anomaly in the rules was rectified, "we are talking about a drop in an ocean", in the face of a £300 billion-plus national benefits of the women, whose representation is being provided by Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), were in court on Tuesday. Galina Ward KC, for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), told the court that the exceptions to the two-child cap, which also include circumstances around kinship care and multiple births, were intended to "kick-in" when women are not able to make a choice about having a said this case was "fundamentally different" to one which was the subject of a 2018 High Court ruling that similar exception rules relating to children in kinship care arrangements were said the DWP also did not accept that women who have non-consensually conceived children and then choose to have another child "are making a fundamentally different choice" to women whose children are consensually case continues on. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
UK mothers with children from abusive relationships discriminated against by benefits system, court told
Two mothers who conceived children while in physically abusive relationships have been discriminated against after being denied access to benefits, a court has been told. The women launched a challenge against the universal credit system after being denied an exception to the two-child cap. The cap typically has exceptions, one of which is the 'rape clause', which means that a child conceived through sexual assault will still be entitled to it. On Tuesday, however, Leeds administrative court was told that this rule only applies to third or subsequent children, meaning that some woman are unable to claim an exception if their first two children were conceived non-consensually. Karon Monaghan KC, representing the women, who can only be identified as LMN and EFG, said the pair had conceived their children when they were in their teens and vulnerable. Monaghan said that both women were regularly subjected to violence and coercion during their respective relationships, with one saying that she was choked until she lost consciousness and raped multiple times. The court was told that LMN had older children who were in care, as well as two children who lived with her. When one of her older children returned home, however, she was refused an exception to the two-child limit that she thought she had been entitled to. The other woman, EFG, had two children who were the conceived through rape and a third who was conceived through a consensual relationship. The court heard that EFG was initially paid for her third child, but that the payments were rescinded once her fourth child was born, with the Department for Work and Pensions telling her she could only claim for two children, not four, due to the 'ordering provisions'. Monaghan told the judge, Mrs Justice Collins Rice, that these ordering provisions are irrational and breach the women's right not to be discriminated against under article 14 of the European convention on human rights. She also told the court that the government had an obligation under article 3 of the convention, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, to ensure that 'women are not penalised' and 'they have the resources to support themselves'. 'It must ensure it doesn't take away benefits because the two children are the product of non-consensual sex', Monaghan said, while also claiming that the money these women could receive is only 'a drop in an ocean' of the £300bn-plus national benefits budget. The hearing, which neither woman attended in person, is due to continue tomorrow.
