Housing crisis forcing victims back to domestic abuse, report claims

The National Women's Council stated that 'violence against women and the housing crisis are colliding and having a brutal impact on women'.

Parents who leave domestic abuse situations are being forced to return to them because of the housing crisis, according to a charity for lone parents.

In its annual report, launched on Tuesday morning, One Family said that domestic violence is “widespread” among the one-parent families being supported through its parenting service.

It said: “When a victim parent leaves with their children, the pathway is often into a refuge and then emergency accommodation, which is traumatising for many. 

"There have been multiple incidents of either the victim parent or children returning to, or staying with, their abuser in the family home, rather than live in short-term emergency accommodation.” 

Executive director of the National Women’s Council, Corrine Hasson, said Ireland is failing women who are being forced to remain in abusive and exploitative situations because of the housing crisis.

She said: "Violence against women and the housing crisis are colliding and having a brutal impact on women. We know one of the leading causes of women's homelessness is domestic abuse, and we also know that women in precarious housing can face exploitation. 

"For lone parents, this situation is even more difficult and indeed some women may choose to stay in an abusive or exploitative situation because they feel it is safer for their children. 

"Ireland is failing these women. It is long past time for action."

The One Family report also found:

•Gross motor skills of babies and toddlers are negatively impacted due to the small spaces available in emergency accommodation, which hampers their development;

•Ever-increasing numbers of separated parents are forced to remain living together in the same home due to the housing crisis — creating sustained, negative impacts on children’s mental health;

•Data is not capturing the housing needs of significant numbers of one-parent families, as they’re couch-surfing or living with extended family in overcrowded homes, rather than enter emergency accommodation.

The most recent figures from the Department of Housing showed there were 17,527 people in emergency accommodation in July.

'Constant threat and fear'

Karen Kieran, chief executive of One Family, said: “Housing insecurity and family homelessness is the constant threat and fear for the one-parent families we support, and indeed, many more who aren’t even currently known to us. 

"Without a safe and secure home, it’s incredibly difficult for families to separate well, to agree on child-centred arrangements, to get support so that they can progress with their lives, or to enter or remain in employment or education."

She said the impact is most profound and devastating on children: "Even if every one-parent family was moved out of emergency accommodation immediately, the impacts on them will remain, potentially, long-term. 

"Not only will this not happen, we will continue to see rising numbers enter homelessness, month-on-month. This is unacceptable and cannot be normalised, by society or Government.

“We urge Government to think of these families’ daily realities as they prioritise their spending for Budget 2027.

"While the housing crisis can’t be solved overnight, greater supports can be put in place to protect families, including: Creating a new, additional needs payment so that a minimum level of income is protected for families after their housing costs have been met; along with increasing income thresholds for one parent family payment and jobseekers transitional payment; and increasing HAP [housing assistance payment] and RAS [rental accommodation scheme] in line with market rents.”