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  • 2017-05-05 (xsd:date)
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  • What is the rape clause? (en)
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  • The Conservative government has cut benefits for more than two children in a family unless the mother can prove she was raped when that child was conceived. The Conservative government has introduced a two-child cap on the per-child payment under Child Tax Credit. There are five exceptions to this cap, including an exception for conception during non-consensual sex or sex in an abusive relationship. The criminal offence of rape doesn’t have to be proven but evidence of non-consensual sex related to conception must be provided. They’ve cut money to any third, fourth or fifth child in a family, unless the mother can prove that she was raped when that child was conceived. Leanne Wood AM, 4 May 2017 Recent changes to Child Tax Credit mean you won’t get money per child for more than two children if the third child was born after 6 April 2017. There are five exceptions to this cap, including one for non-consensual conception of a child. For that exception a criminal conviction for rape doesn’t need to be proved but evidence of non-consensual sex does need to be provided. Stay informed Be first in line for the facts – get our free weekly email Subscribe From 6 April 2017 you won’t get the child element of Child Tax Credit for more than two children who were born after that date. There are five exceptions to this limit, including for children born as a the result of non-consensual conception— this means the cap doesn't apply to children born from non-consensual sex. The lack of consent to sex can be because the relationship was controlling or abusive, which meant the victim didn’t have the freedom or capacity to say no. First, you can’t claim this exception if you live with the other parent of the child. Second, there doesn't need to be a court case or criminal conviction relating to the non-consensual sex or abusive relationship. So the criminal offence of rape doesn’t have to be proved. You have to provide one of three forms of evidence of non-consensual conception: It’s unclear what evidence exactly is required for the first two categories and we have asked for further guidance from HMRC. The HMRC guidance on this exception states that claimants don’t need to speak to or give details of conception to HMRC staff, although they do have to fill in a form. For individuals with a statement (the third form of evidence) they only have to fill in their basic details such as name and address, the professional fills out the rest. For individuals providing either of the first two types of evidence it’s not clear if that evidence is to be directly provided by the claimant on the form or a third party. We’ve asked HMRC to clarify. The Victim Support team can be contacted 24/7 on 08 08 16 89 11 or by email here. Correction 5 May 2017 We corrected the first line of this piece. It previously referred to Child Tax Benefit which was incorrect. (en)
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