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WOMEN with disabilities will gather at the Supreme Court today in solidarity with a victim of domestic violence whose panic room is being targeted by the hated Tory bedroom tax.
On the three-day hearing’s last day, seven Supreme Court justices will hear the case of single mother “A,” a survivor of rape and domestic violence.
The government is appealing against her court victory last month, when appeal judges agreed that she had “suffered discrimination” and that changes to her housing benefit were in breach of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
A’s council house has been fitted with a panic room to protect her from her violent ex-partner. But the government’s new regulations mean the room was considered a “spare” and A’s benefits reduced by £11.65 a week.
Disability rights group WinVisible spokeswoman Claire Glasman told the Star that a third vigil would take place outside the court on Parliament Square.
“The bedroom tax particularly discriminates against women, and mothers fleeing domestic violence as a particular group among women,” she said.
Ms Glasman said that while the government insists that discretionary housing payments (DHP) offset any shortcomings vulnerable people might face under the bedroom tax, people on already on the breadline see it otherwise.
“DHPs are very stressful to apply for because you don’t know whether you are going to get it.
“Don’t forget that the council housing that people are in is housing that they’ve been assessed as needing.
“There’s need for that many rooms for their disability needs, so to have a housing benefit cut is really hard.”
