2,646

of 5,000 signatures

Petition text:

To Sajid Javid, Secretary for the Home Office and the Department for Business

Domestic abuse is an extremely traumatic and often damaging experience. Nobody should be trapped in it by their jobs.

Worrying about being at work and earning enough are two major barriers to stopping people leaving abusive situations. Whether it's moving home to taking care of children, victims should be given the time and security by their employers to reach safety.

That's why we call on you to change the law to make all employers offer paid leave to any of their employees suffering domestic abuse. It would help victims stop the violence and get help without worrying about losing their jobs.

I met my ex partner when I was 19, although it wasn’t until I was 27/28 that I felt the full extent of domestic violence. Looking back the signs were always there. I wasn't allowed a life I wasn't allowed friends or to go out and have a social life. He constantly phoned me to see where I was who I was with and what I was doing. He never trusted me.

We had a son together but still nothing changed if anything things got worse. He’d follow me, turn up by my work. I hated myself for what he was doing to me almost to the point I didn't want to live any more. I felt I couldn't turn to my family as we'd had quite a bad time with losing two grandparents in a short space of time. I was also trying to hide what I was going through from work colleagues.

The last time he hit me was so hard I hit my head on the car bonnet. It was outside a pub, I ran with my son who was now four years old into the pub where they called the police. He was arrested the following day. Work was a struggle and to keep a job in those circumstances was extremely hard, I had a lot of time off that I didn't get paid for when I really needed the money to take my son somewhere safe. It would be such a help for sufferers of domestic violence to receive help with paid leave. To hopefully get the help and support that they need to get away.

That's why we've started this petition calling on the UK government to introduce 10 days paid domestic violence leave. My son is 10 now and where extremely happy in our home life and he's thriving as a young boy, the way he should be. I hope this new law will give more people a way to escape domestic violence. Please sign our petition, people need a chance to escape the violence rather than be stuck in it due to work commitments and money worries.

I’ve written this petition under a pseudonym to protect myself.

If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic abuse, you can call Refuge for free on: 0808 2000 247

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10 days paid leave for domestic violence victims

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10 days paid leave for domestic violence victims

Ask for 10 days of additional paid leave at your workplace:

Here's an email you can send straight to your employer or HR lead to see if your work have anything in place to support victims of domestic violence already. If not, Organise can help you send a template policy your employer can adapt. 👇🏾

You can edit it once you click email my work:

Email my workplace

Dear employer,

I'm writing to enquire as to whether we have a domestic violence policy to support people affected with additional paid leave to help them leave an abusive relationship?

New Zealand have just passed a law making sure every employer offers this leave. It's something not many staff would ever need, but for those who do it could be lifesaving. Two women are killed every week in abusive relationships.

Please can you send me a copy of our policy? And if we don't have one yet, I'll happily send a template policy you can adapt.

Thanks so much,

Email my workplace