“On 3 November 2025, disabled artist and activist Dolly Sen, alongside campaigner Joy Dove, will stage a protest at the DWP head office in Westminster, declaring it a crime scene to expose welfare reforms and DWP failures linked to deaths of disabled claimants.”
London — Disabled artist and activist Dolly Sen will stage a protest at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) head office, declaring it a crime scene, dressed as the devil and congratulating the workers coming in and out of the building for their cruel and ruthless work. This is to draw attention to the structural violence built into the welfare system—and to warn that reforms will 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
Dolly Sen and Joy Dove originally met each other when Dolly made a short documentary about DWP deaths, in which Joy was interviewed. You can see the film at https://youtu.be/EysSdTqqT1U?si=eFk8aQaBBWJ46hUm
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 and stricter, narrower eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), especially the Daily Living component. Those with fluctuating or progressive illnesses (like Parkinson’s, MS, bipolar disorder) fear they will be excluded under severe condition criteria. 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 her allies seek to:
- Acknowledge the victims — name those who have died, carry their stories into public view, so they are not erased.
- End unfit or unsafe assessments which ignore medical evidence, mental distress, and human dignity.
- 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.
- Prioritize the safety, dignity and lives of claimants in all welfare policy
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. section136.co.uk+2Healing Justice Ldn+2