A council employee told a homeless woman to move back in with her parents who wanted to send her to East Africa for conversion therapy.

The Lambeth Council housing officer allegedly said her family’s actions were the sign of a supportive home.

When a support service asked the council to change the woman’s housing officer, Lambeth said the employee’s advice was appropriate.

The council said that while it acknowledged the advice to return was dangerous, the housing officer believed the woman’s parents were acting in her best interests.

Star Support – a support service for young LGBT people – recalled the shocking incident in a report by legal charity the Public Interest Law Centre [PILC] into housing support for domestic abuse victims across London. 

Star Support told the PILC: “We advocated for a change in housing officer but, although recognising that the advice to return was dangerous, the council maintained that the housing officer’s advice was appropriate as she believed that Harriet’s [the woman] parents were acting in her best interests and if Harriet complied with her parent’s wishes – not living as an LGBTQI+ person – then she would have a safe home to live in.” 

In another case, Lambeth Council offered a domestic abuse victim temporary housing in Kent after she made a homelessness application.

The survivor said the offer left them in tears as their whole support network was in London. 

The victim told the PILC: “I was so shocked by this. As someone who had experienced abuse, I relied on my family for support.

"Moving to Kent would take me away from them and move me to an unfamiliar place on my own.

“I couldn’t bear to think about it. I was so upset.

"I called my advocate in tears and had to get my cousin to explain what happened as I was unable to talk. I suffered a panic attack.”

In one incident, Lambeth Council refused to provide a victim with emergency accommodation despite their ex-partner harassing them.

The council only agreed to provide them with housing after a PILC solicitor intervened.

A PILC report reads: “For survivors, the ‘gatekeeping’ of support in domestic abuse cases can be the difference between life and death, safety and danger, housing and street homelessness.

"There is, therefore, an urgent need for national and local government to review the way in which housing is provided to this group.”

Lambeth Council said it had reviewed its housing policy for domestic abuse victims and had worked with victims and experts to devise its new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.

A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: “Improving the safety of women and girls in both public and private is a key priority for Lambeth Council.

"We have protected support services in the borough from cuts and invested extra money over the last decade, despite significant reductions in its funding from government.

“The issue of domestic abuse is taken extremely seriously across the council, including in the housing service.

"Our housing officers have had training by the council’s dedicated Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) team.

“We have recently reviewed our Housing Domestic Abuse Policy with colleagues from our Violence against Women and Girls programme.

"This set out how officers are expected to deal with victims of domestic abuse.

"We are also committed to obtaining the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance accreditation to ensure that we do our very best to support victims of domestic abuse.

“In developing Lambeth’s updated strategy to tackle violence against women and girls we worked with those who have lived experience, as well as experts in the field.

"But we know there is still much to do, in particular with regard to the impacts of the borough’s housing shortage.”

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