Written by: Fe Villegas, MSW, Program Analyst, DoD Military Community Advocacy, Office of Force Resiliency
Leaving an abusive partner can be an expensive undertaking. Research shows that most domestic abuse survivors experience financial abuse along with other forms of victimization (National Network to End Domestic Violence, n.d.). Coercive control, a characteristic of domestic abuse, and financial abuse – combined with how often survivors are isolated from their natural resources by their abusers – is a solid predictor of financial peril for survivors who leave their abusers.
What Financial Abuse Looks Like
Financial abuse limits a survivor’s access to money and resources to achieve financial stability and independence. Financial abuse may look like:
- The abuser controls bank accounts and spending,
- Decides alone how the household money is spent,
- Refuses to seek employment or to allow the survivor to work.
Even survivors who are employed may not have access to their full income and risk losing their jobs because of other forms of abuse.
There have been significant links found between economic abuse and a range of adverse outcomes (Johnson, et.al., 2022). This includes mental and physical health, financial impacts, parent-child interactions, and quality of life.
Unhealthy behaviors from a controlling partner may take the form of:
- The controlling partner intentionally makes them late for work,
- Harassing them while at work, or
- Rendering them unable to show up to work.
Generating sufficient income to cover the cost of leaving is challenging for many domestic abuse survivors. The risk of homelessness is so real, that many opt to stay or return to their abuser. Abusers may engage in destructive behaviors that impact a survivor’s credit, or their ability to obtain utilities in their own name, among other things that lead survivors to engage in strategies to overcome these problems that can create more hardship.
Someone experiencing financial abuse may need to:
- Explore their financial goals, including decreasing or eliminating credit card debt,
- Paying off utilities’ debt,
- Identifying skills that could generate income, and
- Looking into potential educational opportunities and how to access them.
This can be overwhelming, to say the least. Breaking down these action items into steps, especially for long-term planning, can make it more manageable.
Where to Go for Help
Survivors impacted by financial abuse, whether they are planning to leave their relationship or not, can benefit from working with a victim advocate. Victim advocates are equipped to guide the development of a safety plan and help clients on the path of building financial safety.
A survivor doesn’t have to be ready to leave a relationship, or even be considering it, to work with a victim advocate. Ensuring safety and accessing available supportive resources is always the primary goal of the collaborative work victim advocates do with survivors. A victim advocate connects the survivor with the many resources available in communities. While it all could probably be done alone, difficult journeys are better tackled with support.
Military-connected individuals impacted by domestic abuse can connect with a Domestic Abuse Victim Advocate (DAVA) from the Family Advocacy Program for help https://www.militaryonesource.mil/resources/tools/domestic-abuse-victim-advocate-locator/. Survivors may also have the option to work with a certified financial counselor. They can access this service through Military OneSource. Survivors and clients can benefit from reviewing tools and technical assistance provided by The Hotline and The National Network to End Domestic Violence.
For providers – both DAVAs and other professional roles – our Military Family Readiness Academy on Economic Readiness and Military Family Well-Being series delivers professional development programs (one on-demand course and three webinars) focused on economic security and family well-being. The series strengthens the skills of service providers supporting family well-being.
Ensuring clients experiencing domestic abuse are connected with the professionals best suited to support their needs can be a light in the darkness for victims of domestic abuse.
References:
- National Network to End Domestic Violence. (n.d.). About Financial Abuse. Retrieved from https://nnedv.org/content/about-financial-abuse/#:~:text=Research%20indicates%20that%20financial%20abuse,returning%20to%20an%20abusive%20partner.
- Johnson, L., Chen, Y., Stylianou, A., & Arnold, A. (2022). Examining the impact of economic abuse on survivors of intimate partner violence: a scoping review. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 1014. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13297-4.
Resources:
- National Domestic Violence Hotline, Domestic Violence Resources In The Military https://www.thehotline.org/resources/domestic-violence-resources-in-the-military/
- National Network to End Domestic Violence, Financial Abuse Fact Sheet https://nnedv.org/resources-library/financial-abuse-fact-sheet/
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