
The COVID-19 response draws attention to our homes and how we live together. Some issues that we were struggling to fix before have been made even worse. Domestic violence is one example. As people have been told to stay home, incidents of domestic violence have increased around the world.1
One of the key challenges to domestic violence responses, at any time, is a supply of housing that can be available on short notice. In Scotland, social housing providers were expected to have domestic violence policies and procedures before COVID-19. Now, the Chartered Housing Institute has gone a step further and issued guidance to its housing providers, which is intended to improve access to social housing for people fleeing violence.2 The Institute partnered with Scottish Women’s Aid, a national agency that provides domestic violence services, to prepare the content. The guidance describes the domestic violence in the context of COVID-19, instructs housing workers and tenants on measures avoid infection and relaxes some of the rules to lower the up front costs of moving in. It also suggests actions the housing providers could take to support local domestic violence services and provides contact information.
For more on this announcement, and the details of the guidance, see Glasgow Evening Times: Women’s Aid Issues Guidance For Social Landlords In Glasgow To Tackle Domestic Abuse and Scottish Women’s Aid and Chartered Institute of Housing: Guidance For Social Landlords: Domestic Abuse: COVID-19
These actions are directed to housing that is publicly supported, a small but significant share of the country’s total housing stock. Domestic violence does not discriminate by race or class. Private landlords who want to get on board could use the guidance as a template to be adapted.
In the longer term, a UN-based initiative has begun developing gender responsive standards, with a view to reducing, among other things, the incidence of domestic violence. For more on this work try: Gender Responsive Standards For Housing, Please!
Footnotes
- See: COVID-19: Staying At Home To Stay Safe From The Virus May Be The Least Of Your Worries
- The Chartered Housing Institute monitors and supports the social housing sector in Scotland.