Domestic abuse killings have trebled- but government do not take up offer of hotel rooms

Sad to see this happening in the UK. I remember discussing on here some weeks back how the lockdown would impact on the figures in France. Pre-lockdown one woman was murdered every three days, so I dread to think what the figure is now after 5 weeks of confinement under a much stricter regime.
 
If only life was as simple as you want to believe it is Trug.

I think this quote from your linked article might explain the thinking that you can't understand.

Sandra Horley, the chief executive of charity Refuge, said: “It is incredibly generous of hotel chains to offer their rooms but such an offer is not straightforward. Perpetrators have ingenious ways of tracking women down and it is essential that women have access to safe, secure, specialist refuge accommodation.”
 
Last week it was reported that there has been an increase in domestic violence murders during the lockdown compared with what is normally seen. Hopefully these hotels will be contacted to see if they are safe havens.
 
bear66 said:
Last week it was reported that there has been an increase in domestic violence murders during the lockdown compared with what is normally seen. Hopefully these hotels will be contacted to see if they are safe havens.
Click to expand...

Therein lies the crux, why haven’t the hotel chains had a response even if it’s an acknowledgement that their offer has been received and will be considered once a proper safeguarding review has been undertaken.

One simple email and the Government then don’t have stories like this to counter, it seems there is a massive communication problem within the government with several reports of non response to offers of help with equipment and PPE and then the disappearance of the EU emails on joint venture sourcing. This is bog standard simple procedure and doesn’t show the level of professionalism you’d expect from any Government.
 
Last edited:
Perpetrators have ingenious ways of tracking women down and it is essential that women have access to safe, secure, specialist refuge accommodation.”[/QUOTE]

Precisely this, plus living in a hotel isn't sustainable, potentially leading to an even more acute risk.

It was a 'generous' offer by some of the hotel chains, but the issue is multi-layered and often some decisions made in good will can have unintentional consequences.
 
Shock horror it’s the guardian!

And yes if the government said thanks but no thanks the guardian would run a story criticising that.

My partner was victim of years of domestic abuse and her ex husband went to jail. Sticking someone in a hostel/hotel etc does not solve anything. Before criticising the government might help if you have some experience of it
 
American_Mary said:
Therein lies the crux, why haven’t the hotel chains had a response even if it’s an acknowledgement that their offer has been received and will be reviewed once a proper safeguarding review has been undertaken.

One simple email and the Government then don’t have stories like this to counter, it seems there is a massive communication problem within the government with several reports of non response to offers of help with equipment and PPE and then the disappearance of the EU emails on joint venture sourcing. This is bog standard simple procedure and doesn’t show the level of professionalism you’d expect from any Government.
Click to expand...
There were offers regarding testing early on as well. The level of incompetence prevalent at every level is worrying. The appointments for the testing minister and procurement of PPE seems to be odf as well. You'd think they'd get people with professional competence in those areas to sort things out.
 
Cooper671 said:
Shock horror it’s the guardian!

And yes if the government said thanks but no thanks the guardian would run a story criticising that.

My partner was victim of years of domestic abuse and her ex husband went to jail. Sticking someone in a hostel/hotel etc does not solve anything. Before criticising the government might help if you have some experience of it
Click to expand...
And that's all the government had to do. But didn't. And yes, I do have experience of it. I also have a friend who fled from his wife because of the abuse he got from her. As far as criticising the government goes, well they shouldn't leave themselves wide open to be criticised should they?
 
Cooper671 said:
Shock horror it’s the guardian!

And yes if the government said thanks but no thanks the guardian would run a story criticising that.

My partner was victim of years of domestic abuse and her ex husband went to jail. Sticking someone in a hostel/hotel etc does not solve anything. Before criticising the government might help if you have some experience of it
Click to expand...

I’m sorry to hear of your partners experiences.

I have had four relatives and relatives through marriage who have been exposed to abuse, so have experience of it, far more than I ever hoped I would, in the case I was closest to the services were good, at present things are a little different and refuges and shelters may be closed due to the lockdown, it may have been as a short term emergency overnight measure these facilities could have been used after proper safeguarding checks had taken place, I’m not an expert but if you can turn an exhibition hall into a hospital then it doesn’t take too much of a leap to think you could use a hotel as a overnight secure refuge for those in imminent danger.

But whether they could or couldn’t the fact that they’ve not acknowledged or responded to the offer is unprofessional and I would expect better from any organisation, if the boot was on the other foot and a benefit claimant didn’t respond then they would potentially be sanctioned. All it took was a bit of professionalism and a response and there’s no issue.
 
Cooper671 said:
Shock horror it’s the guardian!

And yes if the government said thanks but no thanks the guardian would run a story criticising that.

My partner was victim of years of domestic abuse and her ex husband went to jail. Sticking someone in a hostel/hotel etc does not solve anything. Before criticising the government might help if you have some experience of it
Click to expand...

"Before criticising the government might help if you have some experience of it"

You don't have to have experienced Ian Duncan Smith's Universal Credit or Michael Gove's disastrous meddling in the education sector to be able to criticise it.
 
AM I don’t disagree that a response would have been better but you must be able to see if a response or no case it could be span into an ever bigger story by a paper with a anti Tory agenda. Whether it’s the best thing to do or not makes no difference to a press story.

I think the comparison with a sanction is abit wide of the mark. A sanction is applied when someone who has made a commitment to carry out something fails to do so. This was an offer which didn’t get a response
 
FG- correct but again I would say that’s different. My partner stayed in hostels with 3 children fleeing her partner and it made no difference so I can’t see how a hotel would be any different. Imagine being 5’4 size 8 being dragged out of ya home and beaten in the street by a 6,4 20 stone man after he had kicked your doors in front of your children. You can criticise them policies all you like but stating it’s safe to send domestic abusive victims to hotels and critizise for not doing it shows you have no actual understanding of how it works
 
Cooper671 said:
Shock horror it’s the guardian!

And yes if the government said thanks but no thanks the guardian would run a story criticising that.

My partner was victim of years of domestic abuse and her ex husband went to jail. Sticking someone in a hostel/hotel etc does not solve anything. Before criticising the government might help if you have some experience of it
Click to expand...

Cooper, it was reported in The Independent that both a not-for profit company campaigning on gender related violence and a cross-party organisation had written to hotel chains urging them to open their doors to abuse victims.

It was also reported in the Sunday Times that Priti Patel has been urged to book out hotels as refuges for domestic violence by a cross-party group of more than 60 MPs.

So when The Guardian report that the offer from hotels has been ignored by The Government you want to turn it into a Tory bashing story.

Wake up man!

Your defence of an ineffective government, paralysed by the absence of the PM, is embarrassing.
 
Cooper671 said:
AM I don’t disagree that a response would have been better but you must be able to see if a response or no case it could be span into an ever bigger story by a paper with a anti Tory agenda. Whether it’s the best thing to do or not makes no difference to a press story.

I think the comparison with a sanction is abit wide of the mark. A sanction is applied when someone who has made a commitment to carry out something fails to do so. This was an offer which didn’t get a response
Click to expand...

I used to work in the media and a response in my opinion would have killed the story, it’s such an easy and basic thing to do that’s what frustrates me, I’d be almost certain it will be the hotel chain that have leaked this because they feel as though the government should have at least responded.

You can’t spin a story if you say thank you, we’ll check on the possibilities and once we have made the proper checks we’ll get back to you, all you can then say is the Government have responded and are doing due process on suitability with the safety of the victim paramount in any decision they make, hotel are good guys for offering and no criticism can be directed at the Government for following proper procedure.

Fair enough it’s maybe not the most accurate analogy but you get my point and I maintain that it’s another example of bad governance and negative PR that could easily have been avoided.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top