Peterborough Women's Aid welcome the proposed safe leave for domestic abuse victims
Domestic abuse victims would have access to paid time off work to help them stay safe under a proposed law to be tabled in Parliament
Charities in Peterborough say it's essential that all employers have policies in place to help domestic abuse victims.
Under a proposed law, domestic abuse victims would have access to paid time off work to help them stay safe.
People experiencing domestic abuse would be allowed several days of "safe leave" to assist them in addressing issues related to the abuse.
This often includes finding a place of safety, dealing with health issues, and attending police interviews.
Some of the people we work with are in fear of losing their job if they take extra time off
Mandy Geraghty, CEO Peterborough Women’s Aid, said:
"This is so important and it has been needed for a long time."
"We work with victims who can't get the time off work to go to a police interview or get therapy, and this means they can't recover from the trauma that they've experienced."
"Some of the people we work with are in fear of losing their job if they take extra time off."
"We sometimes work with victims where their perpetrator is in the same organisation as them, so every organisation needs a domestic abuse policy."
"I think that all victims of domestic abuse should be entitled to paid leave."
"Victims have been through trauma, and in any other situation where someone has experienced trauma, they would have paid time off."
I think that all victims of domestic abuse should be entitled to paid leave
Labour MP Alex McIntyre will seek to introduce the Domestic Abuse Bill to the House of Commons today in a bid to enable it to be considered further by MPs.
He will have up to 10 minutes to make a speech on why he wants to introduce his PMB and any MP wishing to oppose it can also make a 10-minute speech.
The House will then decide whether or not the PMB should be introduced.
If successful, the PMB is taken to have had its first reading and Mr McIntyre will set a date for when he would like it to be debated at second reading.