With Joy Dove at DWP protest by Dolly Sen

On Mon 3 November, we joined Joy Dove at a protest organised by Dolly Sen, the mental health art activist.

Joy is demanding a public inquiry and Justice for Jodey — her daughter Jodey Whiting. This follows an eight-year campaign and legal case to win a second inquest into Jodey’s death. In June, the coroner found that the DWP contributed to Jodey taking her own life, by cutting her off benefit and refusing her appeal. Jodey was in hospital and ill at the time of missing a work capability assessment interview. WinVisible has supported Joy over many years, as well as other bereaved relatives.

Outside the DWP, Dolly Sen dressed as the devil in a red costume and horns, Joy Dove, Ian Briggs and supporters, called out to staff leaving the building, and spoke about their children being killed by the DWP. We also spoke up about some women being cut off benefit now, because of the DWP ending ESA payments and forcing people to make a fresh claim for Universal Credit. They are suicidal because of everything being stopped including housing benefit and Council Tax support. We have made a guide to help people, and are supporting many women.

Press release from Dolly Sen 3/11/2025

ACTIVIST DRESSED AS THE DEVIL CHEERS THE DWP FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO CLAIMANT DEATHS

London — Disabled artist and activist Dolly Sen will stage a protest at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) head office and declare it a crime scene. Dressed as the devil, Sen will ‘congratulate’ the workers coming in and out of the building for their cruel and ruthless work.

Sen’s protest draws attention to the structural violence built into the welfare system—and to warn that inadequate reforms will continue to kill disabled people. Joining her is Joy Dove, mother of Jodey Whiting who took her own life after her benefits were stopped. Joy Dove successfully campaigned for a second inquest for her daughter, which found that the DWP’s abrupt termination of her Employment Support Allowance triggered her death. Leigh Day

Recent facts & cases:

·        “Krissi” Hunt (31 years old): Her mental state deteriorated after DWP failures, overpayments and penalty charges; she was receiving ESA and PIP at the time, but the stress of the system contributed to her suicide. Leigh Day

·        Proposed changes to the welfare system include cuts to Universal Credit’s health element. Charities warn many will lose thousands of pounds. Bladder & Bowel Community+3The Guardian+3GOV.UK+3

Why now: structural violence & recent benefit changes

Dolly Sen says this is not an isolated incident but a systemic pattern. Key concerns include:

• Assessment criteria that ignore lived experience: Terminal illness, severe disability, inability to leave bed, mental health crises — despite clear medical evidence, people are often judged ‘fit for work’ and stripped of essential support. (See her “Fit to Work” dolls, and previous “Broken Hearts” action.) section136.co.uk+2Disability News Service+2
• Deaths following benefit withdrawal or failure of appeals: There is documented evidence linking DWP assessments and denials to deaths of claimants. section136.co.uk+2Disability News Service+2
• Punitive sanctions, delays, and bureaucratic cruelty: The administrative apparatus — assessments, sanctions, reviews — often imposes impossible burdens, increasing distress, financial precarity, homelessness, ill health

Messages and demands

Through the protest, Dolly Sen, Joy Dove and their allies seek to:

1. Acknowledge the victims — name those who have died, carry their stories into public view, so they are not erased.
2. End unfit or unsafe assessments which ignore medical evidence, mental distress, and human dignity.
3. Stop benefit cuts that penalize people for being ill or disabled, for missing appointments, or for not being able to comply with bureaucratic demands dueto their disability.
4. Prioritize the safety, dignity and lives of claimants in all welfare policy

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Statement from Dolly Sen

They call it welfare; I call it warfare. The DWP wages war on the poor, the disabled, and the already-broken. It’s a ministry of cruelty that has turned suffering into policy, despair into a spreadsheet. Behind every tick box is a human being who didn’t survive the paperwork. So yes, the DWP is evil — not the kind with horns and fire, but the kind that wears a lanyard, smiles for HR, and sleeps soundly while others die from their decisions.

We will continue to campaign until the state stops treating life as a cost to cut.

Statement from Joy Dove

“I want to show I am not going away. I am still fighting for Jodey for what she was put through by the DWP, and for her family who will never be the same again. I want a public inquiry and justice for Jodey if that’s the last thing I do. The coroner said the DWP triggered Jodey to kill herself, and I think someone should be held accountable. I am also doing this for the other families who have lost loved one due to the DWP.

About Dolly Sen

Dolly Sen is a disabled artist, writer, filmmaker and activist who uses art to challenge institutional power, particularly the policies and practices of the welfare state that harm disabled people. Her work includes Broken Hearts for the DWP, and creative subversions such as “Fit to Work” dolls, theatrical interventions, and public actions. www.dollysen.com section136.co.uk+2Healing Justice Ldn+2

Members of the press and supporters are invited to attend the protest.

Location & Time: Caxton House, Tothill Street, Westminster, SW1H 9NA — 16:00 on 3/11/2025

Contact: Dolly Sen / 07794161200 or 07546608308 / dollysen70@hotmail.com