Domestic Abuser Who Threatened to Kill the Mother of His Child Allowed into a Women’s Refuge

Allowing men who identify themselves as women without having undergone a sex change treatment to live in shelters exclusively for women could have serious consequences.

As revealed by the Daily Mail, the policy of charities to allow any man who wishes to live as a woman by simply declaring himself as transgender could endanger several people in these shelters for women fleeing abusive relationships.

All this controversy has arisen since it was discovered that a transgender ex-convict of domestic violence was allowed to go to and from a women-only shelter after he changed his name to Melissa.

Mark Addis, 44, spent six months in pre-trial detention in a male prison in 2014 after sending threats to his son's mother saying he would kill her. He even sent the image of a corpse in a shroud in one of his terrible messages.

Addis was considered such a threat to his former partner that he had to remain in prison until he admitted that he had abused a person by placing her in a situation of fear through harassment and threats.

However, despite knowing the criminal record of Addis, the heads of the St. Mungo's homeless charity allowed her to make "almost daily" visits to a hostel for women only by placing an inclusive policy above the safety of women who live in the shelter and need protection.

Although many may think that Addis has been regenerated from his violent past, a St Mungo source revealed that the ex-convict had caused alarm and anguish among the residents of the women's shelter by behaving aggressively in front of her.

Addis himself boasts of the benefits that she can access since she made the decision to change gender and confirmed that she would come and go from the East London Women's Project, where she would visit her support worker and also attend various social events.

The managers of the charity are now accused of ignoring staff concerns and of endangering the safety of their refugees by prioritizing the defense of the rights of transgender people.

These revelations have caused fury among public opinion. "The most important thing in women's shelters is their safety," said Erin Pizzey, who established the first domestic violence shelter for women in Chiswick, in West London, in 1971.

In Belfast, a man who threw his partner down the stairs has been acquitted of going to prison and many cannot believe that he has escaped a sentence behind bars and instead have simply given him two years on probation.

In another similar story, Helen Hayes made headlines when she came forward to share heartbreaking details about her experience of domestic violence. The reports come soon after the perpetrator was granted bail even after pleading guilty.

On February 15, her ex-partner, who was found guilty of assaults and criminal damage, was granted a chance of bail and this has fuelled Hayes even more. She is now on the move to make women aware of domestic abuse.

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