Economic Abuse
Economic abuse (often called financial abuse) is the control of a partner’s or ex-partner’s money, resources and the things money can buy, in order to limit their independence and trap them in the relationship. It includes restricting access to bank accounts and income, sabotaging employment or education, running up coerced debt in the victim’s name, and controlling access to transport, technology, housing and daily essentials. It is a core tactic of Coercive Control: by stripping away the material means of leaving, an abuser makes escape practically impossible. Survivors frequently cite financial insecurity as a primary reason for staying with — or returning to — an abusive partner, and the damage (ruined credit, employment gaps, debt) persists long after the relationship ends.
Economic abuse is a pervasive but widely under-recognised form of Gender-Based Violence. The US National Network to End Domestic Violence reports that financial abuse occurs in an estimated 99% of domestic violence cases, making it nearly universal in abusive relationships, yet it is poorly understood by the public. In the UK, charity Surviving Economic Abuse estimates that roughly 1 in 6 women has experienced economic abuse by a current or former partner. Because so much of modern financial life and account access runs through phones and shared logins, economic abuse increasingly intersects with Tech-Enabled Abuse; survivor-centred resources such as My Safety Kit are built to help victim-survivors document and counter it.
In this vault
- Subtype ofGender-Based Violence
- Instance ofCoercive Control
- Addressed byMy Safety Kit
- Related toTech-Enabled Abuse