Victory as same roof rule abolished

‘It was ridiculous to expect children to take responsibility for their own abuse like that’.

The so-called ‘same roof rule’, which has unfairly denied many victims and survivors access to the Criminal Injuries Compensation they deserve following child sexual abuse and other sexual and violent offences, was finally abolished on 13 June 2019.

This breakthrough for justice follows a landmark victory for one survivor who successfully took her case to the Court of Appeal last year, where senior judges found the regulation that had prevented her receiving compensation was incompatible with human rights law.

The so-called ‘same roof rule’ stopped victims of violent crime receiving compensation if the perpetrator was a family member they were living with at the time of the incident.

The rule was amended in 1979 to allow future victims access to compensation, but was not made retrospective. This has meant that many victims of crimes which occurred before the law change have been denied compensation.

Bev, a survivor of child sexual abuse who was supported by South Essex Rape & Incest Crisis Centre (SERICC) had her application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) turned down under the so-called ‘same roof rule’, despite the man who abused her and her sister being convicted and sent to prison.

Bev and her sister Jacqui, who was also denied compensation under the ‘same roof rule’, said its abolition has been ‘a long time coming’.

“It’s ridiculous to expect children to take responsibility for their own abuse like that. The system makes no sense.

“Getting compensation for child sexual abuse isn’t about the money. It’s about feeling vindicated and being able to finally close the book on everything. Physical wounds – skin and bones – they will heal over time, but you don’t ever fully get over child sexual abuse in the same way.”

Speaking of her experience with CICA, Bev said : “It was very hurtful, very upsetting. It was like the law telling you you’re worthless and throwaway, and that you don’t matter. It was like being slapped in the face. It made me feel I’d been turned back to the child I was when I was abused, vulnerable and feeling dirty. It was all very traumatic.”

Katie Russell, national spokesperson for Rape Crisis England & Wales, said: “We are so pleased for Bev, Jacqui and all the many sexual abuse survivors this anomalous, outdated and discriminatory policy has affected.

“The so-called ‘same roof rule’ has ignored the fact that sexual violence and abuse is so often perpetrated by someone known, trusted, even loved, within the victim’s or survivor’s own home.

“Denying those in these situations, many of whom were children at the time of the abuse, compensation on the grounds of cohabitation with the perpetrator has not only been ignorant but cruel, by implying that victims and survivors are in some way culpable for their experiences or for not having prevented their own abuse.”

Rape Crisis England & Wales and other charities have long campaigned for a full review and overhaul of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS), which discriminates against and sometimes retraumatises victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and all sexual violence in a number of ways.

A review is currently underway and due to report back later this year.

Jointly with its campaign partners Victim Support, the National Working Group (NWG), Barnardo’s and Liberty, Rape Crisis England & Wales added: “We are pleased that following a successful legal challenge the government has scrapped the cruel and illogical ‘same roof rule’.

“Survivors, including those who suffered horrific abuse as children, who have been unable to claim compensation for four decades will at long last be able to get the compensation that they so rightly deserve.

“Following this welcome change we urge the government to continue their overhaul of unfair rules that deny victims compensation, such as those that refuse pay-outs to people with unspent convictions, including children drawn into crime as victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation gangs.”

Victims and survivors who have previously been denied Criminal Injuries Compensation under the ‘same roof rule’ may make fresh applications from today and have up to two years to submit them. Further details, including how to apply, can be found here.