Irish social workers could be prosecuted due to‘rape clause’

Social workers have warned that they could face criminal prosecution as a result of the government’s decision to extend the two-child limit on benefits, which carries a controversial “rape clause”, to Northern Ireland.
The policy, which only allows a mother to receive key benefits for a third or subsequent child if their conception involved non-consensual sex, has led to huge controversy across the UK.
But it is causing particular alarm in Northern Ireland, where it is an offence not to report a crime to police. That has raised concerns that women will be criminalising themselves if they later come forward and reveal they were raped. wrote: