Alison Thewliss says proposals to scrutinise women who have third child due to rape was stigmatising and has no place in the 21st century

A Scottish MP has launched a poster campaign challenging the government’s “appalling” budget proposal that would require a woman who had a third child as the result of rape to justify her position to avoid losing tax credits.

Alison Thewliss, who has raised the issue nine times in the House of Commons, was joined by campaigners in Glasgow on Saturday to publicise the poster campaign and website, calling on George Osborne to “scrap the rape clause”.

The plans to restrict child tax credits to two children for new claimants from 2017 incorporate a number of exemptions, including multiple births, and set out that “the Department for Work and Pensions and HMRC will develop protections for women who have a third child as a result of rape or other exceptional circumstances”.

Thewliss, the SNP MP for Glasgow Central, who first drew attention to the clause when the restrictions were announced in last July’s budget, said the proposal had no place in the 21st century.

“We think the policy on limiting tax credits to the first two children is appalling and tantamount to social engineering, but to put a woman who has been raped in a position where she needs to declare that to a government official is just abhorrent. This also stigmatises the child involved, which is surely against the UN convention on the rights of the child.

“I’ve raised this issue on the floor of the House of Commons on no less than nine occasions – yet the government still can’t explain how it will work and remains hellbent on pressing ahead with this draconian procedure.”

Joining Thewliss at the launch, Angela Devine, of Glasgow Women’s Aid, described the changes as untenable and discriminatory.

She said: “As an organisation offering refuge and support to some of the most vulnerable women and children in our city, we know the damaging effect this clause could have on women who have already endured trauma.

“It is not uncommon for children to be the product of rape or coercive control and women should never be placed in the humiliating position of appealing to the DWP for benefits.”