THE government was asked for an eighth time yesterday to explain how the rape clause in its new child benefit policy will work. Under new plans announced in the budget, child benefit will be restricted to the first two children.

However, the government said there would be an exception for children who had been born as the result of a rape. During Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron said there was “no question” of a woman who has become pregnant because of rape not getting child benefit.

What is not clear is exactly how the government will determine if a child has been conceived through rape, whether it applies only to women whose rapists have been found guilty in a court of law or if there will be some other test.

Anti-rape charities have previously warned that it would be inappropriate to expect someone who has been raped to have to prove it to a civil servant.

When the policy was announced Sandy Brindley from Rape Crisis Scotland expressed major concerns about how this would work.

“This proposal is ill-conceived and unhelpful,” Brindley said. “It is difficult to see how it can be implemented. Rape is a very traumatic crime to experience. It can be difficult for a rape survivor to disclose what has happened to their closest friends or family but under this proposal they will be expected to disclose it to the DWP [Department for Work and Pensions] in order to qualify for benefits.”

Brindley continued: “What training will DWP staff receive in responding to disclosures of rape? Most rapes aren’t reported to the police. How is someone going to ‘prove’ to the DWP that they have been raped?”

The DWP told the National yesterday they were consulting with stakeholders over the process.

Alison Thewliss, who challenged the Prime Minister on the point during yesterday’s PMQs said: “I think it’s bizarre that they’ve said they’ll consult in the first place but I’ve written to the Prime Minister and asked who he’s actually consulting, when the consultation started, how long it will run for and when the government will publish the results. Fundamentally, however, these policies don’t need consultation, they need [to be] binned.”

The Glasgow MP has been pressing the government on the issue since July. Thewliss has already asked Iain Duncan Smith, the chancellor, George Osborne and the leader of the house, Chris Grayling, for more details.

Speaking after challenging the Prime Minister in the Commons, Thewliss said: “I’m not giving up, I’m not going away and I’m not shutting up – the message is clear: the Prime Minister needs to drop these plans right now. They’re absolutely abhorrent and have no place in the twentyfirst century.

“It is ridiculous that, having first raised in this July, the government still can’t just concede that these are totally ill-thought-out plans, which won’t work and will only serve to stigmatise women and children.

“The Prime Minister might hope this issue falls by the wayside over the Christmas recess but I urge him to make it his New Year’s resolution to ditch the abhorrent rape clause and drop the ludicrous two-child policy.”

A DWP spokesman said: “DWP and HMRC are developing protections for women who have a third child as the result of rape. The UK government recognises that women who have a child born as a result of rape can face very difficult circumstances.

“That’s why the government intends to work with stakeholders to ensure that this exemption is delivered in the best way possible.”