FORCED BACK TO VIOLENT HOMES

Abused women sleep rough rather than in 'hell-hole' hotels | Mums scared of losing custody by being homeless

- BY MARK MCGIVERN

BATTERED mums are having to return to violent partners due to Scotland's housing crisis, campaigners have said.

Experts say growing numbers of women feel forced to stay in abusive households because there is nowhere to go with their kids.

Other women sleep on sofas or even pavements instead of taking rooms in "hell-hole" hostels, where they are exposed to the risk of further violence and sexual assault.

Laura Jones, of the Scottish Tenants' Organisation, said recent months have seen an alarming rise in reports of fear and violence by women who are homeless.

Recent figures showed that, in Glasgow, 108 families were living in B&Bs or hotels, the use of which is strictly limited by law. Many establishments have become associated with hellish conditions.

Housing charity Shelter also says many women find it impossible to find secure, safe accommodation.

Jones said: "We've now got 108 families with children in these hellhole hotels, a huge increase from earlier months. The law is being broken every day by Glasgow City Council and people are not being given what they have a legal right to.

"More and more of those caught up in homelessness are women, often with children and fleeing domestic violence."

Jones said the dire state of affairs is seen nightly at the Homeless Project Scotland emergency shelter, which is oversubscribed yet faces possible closure in a planning row.