DA victims ‘can escape during lockdown’
The government’s stay-at-home legislation allows people subjected to domestic abuse to leave their home, according to the House of Commons library information service.
Regulations include making it an offence, punishable by a fine, for a person to be away from their home without a good excuse during the coronavirus crisis.
Accepted excuses include leaving the house to access critical public services, such as those provided to people escaping from potentially being injured.
“Someone leaving the house to avoid injury, illness or a risk of harm caused by domestic abuse, or to access domestic abuse support services, should have a ‘reasonable excuse’ for doing so,” library researcher Sally Lipscombe wrote.In a Mail on Sunday article, home secretary Priti Patel wrote: “Whilst our advice is to stay at home, anyone who is at risk of, or experiencing, domestic abuse, is still able to leave and seek refuge.”
