Economic Abuse

Did you know that domestic abuse can include ‘economic abuse’?

I read recently that one in six women in the UK has experienced economic abuse by a current or former partner.    So what actually is economic abuse?   The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 gives us the answer, because s.1 defines it as a form of domestic abuse:

Behaviour is “abusive” if it is any of the following—

• physical or sexual abuse;

• violent or threatening behaviour;

• controlling or coercive behaviour;

• economic abuse

• psychological, emotional or other abuse;

and it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident, such as a forged signature,  or a course of conduct such as consistently denying you access to your own money, providing it is behaviour that has a substantial adverse effect on your ability to—

• acquire, use or maintain money or other property, or

• obtain goods or services.

This can be interpreted fairly widely and could include:

Dictating, tracking, or making you justify all expenditure;

Forcing you to ask for money;

Taking away from you your own money, be it savings or salary;

Controlling or denying you access to money;

Blocking your access to financial resources, benefits, and even information;

Refusing to contribute to household expenses;

Insisting accounts, funds and property are not in your name………….

………but the debts are – ie coercing you into debt or building debt in your name without your knowledge.

Help is at hand.   Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) is the only UK charity dedicated to raising awareness of and transforming responses to economic abuse. 

If you are a victim, have a look at this:  https://survivingeconomicabuse.org/