In this article, I will explore economic abuse as a form of coercion and how it prevents so many women from leaving their abusive partners.
It is a well-known fact, economic abuse is a pervasive and often overlooked aspect of domestic violence, where abusers exert control over their partners’ financial resources, and in that way limiting their independence and trapping them in abusive relationships. This form of coercion can manifest in many ways, including restricting access to money, interfering with employment opportunities, and accumulating debt in the victim-survivor’s name. It is important to understand that economic abuse is about power, control, and the systematic removal of a person’s ability to make independent choices.
Understanding Economic Abuse
Economic abuse involves behaviours that control a partner’s ability to acquire, use, and maintain economic resources, threatening their financial security and potential for self-sufficiency. Recent research suggests that financial control is often a precursor to physical and emotional abuse, making it one of many very clear warning signs of an abusive relationship.
Manipulative tactics used by abusers come in different shapes and form, such as:
- Controlling Access to Finances: Abusers may prevent victim-survivor from accessing financial information or bank accounts, credit cards, or cash, forcing them to depend entirely on the abuser. Some may go as far as confiscating bank cards, monitoring all financial transactions, or giving an ‘allowance’ with strict conditions, and penalties or punishments if those are breached.
- Employment Sabotage: Abusers may interfere with the victim’s job by causing them to miss work, harass them at their workplace, or prevent them from obtaining or maintaining employment. Some abusers fake emergencies or use psychological manipulation to make the victim feel guilty for prioritising work.
- Accumulating Debt: This appears to be a very frequent form of economic abuse. Abusers might incur debt in the victim’s name without their knowledge or consent, damaging their credit score and financial stability and security. This can include taking out loans, defaulting on payments, or even deceitfully obtaining credit in the victim’s name.
- Restricting Education and Skills Development: Abuser may prevent victim-survivors from pursuing educational opportunities or vocational training that could lead to financial independence. This can include discouraging them from attending courses, refusing to pay for it, or belittling their aspirations to prevent them from gaining additional knowledge to further their career.
- Exploiting Parental Responsibilities: For women with children, economic abuse often intersects with parental responsibilities. Abusers may withhold child maintenance payments, sabotage childcare arrangements, or use financial dependency as leverage in custody disputes.
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence highlighted that economic abuse occurs in 99% of domestic violence cases, and stressed a critical need for awareness and intervention. In the report summary, titled “The Economics of Abuse, UK based Women’s Aid supported this claim and stated that economic abuse is a significant factor in why many women feel unable to leave an abusive partner.
The Impact of on Victims
The consequences of economic abuse can be overwhelming and complex. It can leave victim-survivors feeling trapped and dependent. This dependency can lead to continued exposure to abuse and significant psychological distress. Many women experience a progression of financial instability, making it more and more difficult to secure housing, afford legal representation, or cover basic needs.
The link between economic abuse and post-separation abuse is also critical. Many survivors find that even after leaving their abusive partner, the perpetrator continues to exert control through financial means. This can include withholding child support, refusing to pay back shared debts, or deliberately damaging the victim’s financial stability to keep them trapped.
A 2024 study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics found that women who begin relationships with physically abusive men suffer significant declines in earnings and employment upon cohabitation. The study highlighted that economic dependence is a major barrier to leaving, particularly in cases where the victim has children or lacks financial support from family and friends.
The Responsibility of Financial Institutions and Legal Reforms
The UK has made some progress in recognising economic abuse in recent years. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 now legally defines economic abuse as one of many forms of coercive control, making it easier for victims to seek legal compensation.
In December 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) initiated rulemaking to address the detrimental effects of inaccurate credit reporting on survivors of domestic violence and other forms of financial abuse. This effort aims to mitigate the financial consequences that prevents or hinders survivors’ ability to rebuild their financial lives.
In Australia, a parliamentary committee recommended significant reforms to the child support and financial systems to combat economical abuse. Among the 61 recommendations, the committee suggested that the Australian Taxation Office take responsibility for collecting unpaid child support, treating these debts as tax liabilities. This proposal aims to prevent perpetrators from using the child support system to weaken or ruin their partners, or ex-partners, financial lives.
Many financial institutions have recently introduced specialist support services for customers experiencing financial abuse. These initiatives include discreet helplines, safe account transitions, and financial assistance to help victim-survivors regain an understanding and control of their finances. However, it is clear, more needs to be done to educate professionals across different sectors, on the signs and impact of economic abuse.
For victim-survivors seeking to escape economic abuse, rebuilding financial independence and security may feel overwhelming. However, many support organisations specialising in financial control offer resources, guidance, and advocacy. Many provide free debt advice, assistance for those left with financial burdens from an abusive relationship and help in accessing grants and benefits to ultimately regain financial security.
About the Author
Robert Kaiser is the Founder of The Women’s Safety Institute, a researcher and practitioner specializing in intimate partner violence (IPV), escalation dynamics, and behavioral trajectories. Prior to his research career, he served in intelligence services and overseas security. His work focuses on developing a trajectory-based analytical framework to understand risk progression and lethality in IPV. His latest peer reviewed research paper Economic Abuse in Coercive Control Trajectories: Applying Escalation Pattern Analysis to Intimate Partner Violence was published in Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.
He is the developer of Escalation Pattern Analysis (EPA), a behaviorally grounded framework that facilitates early identification of escalating harm within coercive control dynamics. His research integrates criminology, forensic psychology, behavioral science, and safeguarding practice, with a particular focus on preventing high-harm outcomes. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Criminology, focusing on Advancing Escalation Pattern Analysis Across the Dynamics of Intimate Partner Violence to Improve Lethality Assessments. If you would like to follow his academic journey and access his publications, please visit his ResearchGate profile.
Robert has worked closely with hundreds of female survivors of physical and sexual crimes and is the author of NEVER A VICTIM, a 530-page, 115,000-word, survivor-led, trauma-informed guide to women’s safety.