A Guide To Financial Abuse: From Spotting The Signs To Getting Help

Data shows 59% of self-employed Indian women take financial guidance from their spouses.

- Marianne Eloise

‘Why didn’t she leave sooner?’ is a question that many people ask when someone is in an abusive relationship. The question reveals an overwhelming misunderstanding when it comes to domestic abuse and intimate partner violence, both of which affect women disproportionately. While there are many complex reasons why it takes women attempting to leave up to seven times before they leave for good, one massive reason is money and other resources.

IndiaLends, an online personal loan platform, revealed in their 2019 #WorkingStree survey that while over 76% women made their own investment decisions, 59% of self-employed women relied more often on their spouses for financial guidance compared to 48% of salaried women. Over a third of women also say that they would not cope well financially if they were to split. While this can be the case even in relationships that are not abusive, for those under the hold of a partner who uses household finances as a means of control, it can get far more complicated. Christina Govier, Head of Specialist Team at UK-based charity, Surviving Economic Abuse, says that, “Without access to the economic resources required to leave and live independently, victims stay with abusers for longer and experience more harm as a result.”

Here, we break down the complexities of financial abuse, economic abuse, and what women can do to escape, speaking to survivors and experts.

What is Financial Abuse?

While ‘economic abuse’ and ‘financial abuse’ may be used interchangeably, it is important to note that they are very different. Christina said that financial abuse includes things like coercing a partner into debt, whereas economic abuse is broader, covering key resources such as housing, food, and employment, all of which are intertwined.