HUNDREDS of women have been made to disclose their child was conceived as a result of rape in order to access welfare under the UK Government’s two-child cap.
The two-child limit on benefits was launched by former chancellor George Osbourne in 2015, and came into force two years later. He said the change would provide £1 billion in welfare savings.
The policy restricts parents from accessing tax credits or Universal Credit for more than two children. Under the so-called rape clause, though, any child born as a result of rape is exempt from the two-child limit.
SNP MP Alison Thewliss has referred to the rape clause as “one of the most inhumane and barbaric policies ever to emanate from Whitehall”.
READ MORE: 'Woefully ignorant' Boris Johnson under fire after rape clause confusion
Women’s groups and rape crisis charities oppose the policy, arguing it is inhumane to make traumatised women explain the circumstances or a rape as part of a benefits claim.
Government figures reveal that 243,000 households were affected by the two-child limit during the first three years of the policy, while 900 women had to disclose their child was conceived because they were raped.
Thewliss commented: “The UK Government has no place to hide in the face of these damning statistics. Covid-19 has exposed the gaps in the social security safety net – I urge the new Prime Minister to do the right thing and scrap the two-child limit for everyone.
“Most shocking of all, 900 women have been forced to go through the process of claiming for an exception due to a non-consensual conception. Every single one of these women has been put in a position where they’ve had to fill in a form to prove their child was conceived as a result of rape or coercion, just to make ends meet.”
Earlier this year Boris Johnson accidentally promised to undo the two-child limit when Jeremy Corbyn questioned him on the rule.
The Prime Minister surprised MPs in the Commons when he described the rape clause as an “injustice” requiring rectifying.
A Number 10 source later backtracked on what Johnson had said.
Thewliss tweeted after the incident: “My guess is he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The two-child limit and the rape clause stigmatise, impoverish and must be scrapped.”
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