… and how Covid-19 impacts this still further
95% of women who experience domestic abuse report experiencing economic abuse.
Financial abuse is common among domestic violence survivors.
Financial control is a major lever for an abuser that gives them all the more power over the victim.
More than half of women experiencing domestic abuse said they had no money so could not leave.
Financial abuse is controlling a victim’s ability to earn, use or maintain money. And it can be harder than physical violence for friends and family or even the victim herself to recognise. It’s such a covert control tactic, many women who find themselves in these situations may not realise what’s happening. To exert financial control, an abuser may limit their partner’s ability to earn income. They might insist they handle all money matters and exclude their partner from any financial decisions. Further, the abused partner can be denied access to bank accounts or have to account for every penny spent. While withholding money, the abuser may give their partner an “allowance,” which is often barely enough to cover their basic needs.
She might think it’s impossible to leave because she’s financially dependent on him. A third of victim-survivors do not tell anyone about financial abuse, those who do are most likely to tell a friend or family member.
On the other side of the economic abuse spectrum is a different kind of financial abuser. The abuser can refuse to work, feeling entitled to their partner’s money, run large amounts of debt – ruining the victim’s credit – or even steal their identity. Stripped of financial independence, a woman in a violent relationship can feel as if she can’t escape it.
Particular issues resulting from Covid-19 lockdown
Social distancing and isolation measures necessary to control the spread of the virus may reinforce the power that an abuser has over you. For instance, an abusive partner might:
- use the outbreak as an excuse to gain or increase their control over your economic situation,
- interfere with your ability to work by insisting you are responsible for childcare, or prevent you from accessing the equipment you need to work at home (such as a laptop or phone)
- use the current uncertainty to suggest you ‘cut back’ on heating, food and other essentials, or withhold necessary items such as food, medicine, hand sanitiser or disinfectants
- try to prevent you from accessing financial support that is available at this time, such as a break in mortgage payments, increasingly monitor your phone, laptop or other communication devices
- make it harder to stay socially connected with others, so that the barriers to reaching out for help and accessing economic resources may seem even greater.
The abuser may also use the virus outbreak as a way to justify their behaviour.
The UK charity Surviving Economic Abuse has developed a series of Tools to Survive including:
Economic Abuse and the Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak
For information about services that can help in Hertfordshire please give us a call on 08 088 088 088.
Thanks to SEA
Thanks also to Creditcards.com, a company based in Texas, which kindly provided some of the above text. https://bit.ly/2AY2GdC If you read this article then kindly note that guidance issued in the USA may not be applicable in the UK.