Two abused mums denied ‘rape clause’ benefits exemption - court hears blatant discrimination

Two mothers, brutalised and trapped in violent relationships, have been cruelly denied benefits because the government’s so-called “two-child cap” refuses to acknowledge the horrors behind their children’s conceptions. This isn’t just callous bureaucracy — it’s outright discrimination.

These women—conceiving children as vulnerable teenagers while enduring physical and sexual abuse—face an unthinkable double punishment: not only did they survive trauma, but now the state refuses to support their families properly.

You’d think the “rape clause” in Universal Credit would be a beacon of justice, right? Wrong. The law only grudgingly offers an exception for a third or subsequent child conceived through sexual assault. If your first two children were born through violence, tough luck—you’re left out in the cold.

One woman was strangled until unconscious and raped multiple times. She has children in her care and has already lost some to the system, yet when one older child returned home, she was denied the benefit exception she desperately needs. The other woman had two children conceived through rape, a third conceived consensually, but when her fourth child arrived, the Department for Work and Pensions cruelly cut off support, citing the ridiculous “ordering provisions.”

This government policy is nothing short of irrational and inhumane. It actively punishes women for being victims, blatantly violating their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 14 forbids discrimination — yet here we are, watching the state discriminate against mothers who’ve endured the worst.

And don’t get me started on Article 3, which forbids torture and degrading treatment. What could be more degrading than stripping support from women already struggling to keep their children safe and fed?

The sums of money these women are denied are but a drop in the vast ocean of the £300 billion welfare budget. It’s an insult, a cynical cost-cutting measure that sacrifices the most vulnerable to bureaucratic indifference.

This hearing continues, but let me be clear: this isn’t just a legal battle. It’s a fight for dignity, justice, and basic human compassion that this country sorely lacks.

The government must stop punishing survivors of abuse and start supporting them — fully and without conditions.