No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
Understanding the economics of abuse: an assessment of the economic abuse definition within the Domestic Abuse Bill
Abstract
The term ‘economic abuse’ was first introduced into discourse when it was identified as a tactic used by perpetrators within the Duluth Power and Control Wheel. Yet it is only recently that researchers have turned their attention to defining and understanding it. This article draws on a review of the global and UK specific academic research literature to assess the suitability of the definition of economic abuse put forward within the Westminster government’s Domestic Abuse Bill. It recommends that a) the term ‘any behaviour’ within the definition is understood to include controlling tactics which sit under the constructs of economic restriction, exploitation and/or sabotage, b) the definition recognises perpetrators will also prevent a partner from using/maintaining goods or services and, c) attention is given to the suggestion that single incidents of economic abuse would not fall under this definition. While the focus of this article is on Westminster policy in the UK, the case for ‘naming’ and defining economic abuse in statute has wider resonance, not least because it provides a framework within which to report on prevalence, hold perpetrators accountable and for services (statutory and voluntary) to respond.
Key messages
This article critically assesses the definition of economic abuse within the Westminster government’s Domestic Abuse Bill and argues that there is ‘room for improvement’.
The term ‘any behaviour’ within the definition of economic abuse should be understood to include controlling tactics which sit under the constructs of economic restriction, exploitation and/or sabotage.
A clear understanding of the constructs of economic abuse is vital if the Westminster government is to report on prevalence (as required by the Istanbul Convention) and frontline practitioners are to understand and meet the complex needs of victim-survivors. </ul
... Unequal pay and a gender segregated workforce, even after the more recent progress there has been made in legislating for women's equality, still mean that it is increasingly difficult for women to live financially autonomously and they, more so than men, are reliant on a two-income household to meet the costs of living because of the gender pay gap (Jewell et al., 2020). The impacts of their dependency on men for securing housing and running a household are crucial factors in understanding the decisions women victimised by men in domestically abusive relationships can make about whether and when to leave -especially if they have children (Eriksson and Ulmestig, 2021;Sharp-Jeffs, 2021). ...
Purpose
To draw attention to the invisibility of family abuse victimisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or trans folk and its impacts; and the lack of appropriate, confident, skilled, formal responses to family abuse victimisation. In addition to argue that local strategic commitment is required to address structural discrimination faced by queer folk and to positively invite those victimised to seek help from local services.
Method
A multi-method local study in a Central Bedfordshire, a County in England was conducted with an online survey, interviews and focus groups with local LGBT+ communities and practitioners.
Results
The data suggests worryingly high reporting of family abuse particularly for trans participants. At the same time our data, in line with others, shows help-seeking to be low other than to informal sources of help especially friends. In addition professionals appear underconfident about how to respond appropriately.
Conclusions
Family abuse targeting queer folk is a significant problem and under-recognised. This is in part due to the mainstream domestic abuse sector associating family abuse with racially minoritised and/or faith communities and particular forms of violence such as “honour” abuse, forced marriage and female genital mutilation. Family abuse victimising queer folk is relatively invisible despite profound social, mental and physical health impacts. Practitioners in this study describe a lack of confidence, skills and knowledge about their practice responses to queer folk which needs to be addressed through training. However, we also conclude that the wider civic context can also play a part in sending messages to local queer folk that local services are for them and that there is a role for civic leaders to improve the visibility and confidence of local queer folk as citizens.
... Although some consideration was made of clustering in types of IPV and severity of physical (with or without injury) and sexual (rape or any sexual contact) IPV, we lacked comprehensive information on repetition, and our measure of economic IPV might have not captured this multidimensional form of abuse. 23 As a household sample, people living in refuges, prisons, or other institutional settings, or who were experiencing homelessness were out of its scope, and these groups are likely to be at higher risk of both IPV and self-harm and suicidality. 24 Although some information was selfcompleted, under-reporting of stigmatised experiences remains possible, especially where participants were living with a violent partner at the time of the interview. ...
Background
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a recognised risk factor for psychiatric disorders. There is little current evidence on IPV and self-harm and suicidality, and we therefore aimed to investigate the associations between experience of lifetime and past-year IPV with suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, and self-harm in the past year.
Methods
We analysed the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, a cross-sectional survey of 7058 adults (aged ≥16 years) in England, which used a multistage random probability sampling design and involved face-to-face interviews. Participants were asked about experience of physical violence and sexual, economic, and emotional abuse from a current or former partner, and about suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, and self-harm. Other adversities were recorded through an adapted version of the List of Threatening Experiences. Multivariable logistic regression models quantified associations between different indicators of lifetime and past-year IPV, with past-year non-suicidal self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts. All analyses were weighted.
Findings
Using weighted percentages, we found that a fifth (21·4%) of 7058 adults reported lifetime experience of IPV, and that 27·2% of women and 15·3% of men had experienced IPV. Among women, 19·6% had ever experienced emotional IPV, 18·7% physical IPV, 8·5% economic IPV, and 3·7% sexual IPV, which was higher than in men (8·6%, 9·3%, 3·6%, and 0·3%, respectively). Findings for ethnicity were unclear. Lifetime prevalence of IPV was higher in those living in rented accommodation or deprived neighbourhoods. Among people who had attempted suicide in the past year, 49·7% had ever experienced IPV and 23·1% had experienced IPV in the past year (including 34·8% of women and 9·4% of men). After adjusting for demographics, socioeconomics, and lifetime experience of adversities, the odds ratio of a past-year suicide attempt were 2·82 (95% CI 1·54–5·17) times higher in those who have ever experienced IPV, compared with those who had not. Fully adjusted odds ratios for past-year self-harm (2·20, 95% CI 1·37–3·53) and suicidal thoughts (1·85, 1·39–2·46) were also raised in those who had ever experienced IPV.
Interpretation
IPV is common in England, especially among women, and is strongly associated with self-harm and suicidality. People presenting to services in suicidal distress or after self-harm should be asked about IPV. Interventions designed to reduce the prevalence and duration of IPV might protect and improve the lives of people at risk of self-harm and suicide.
Funding
UK Prevention Research Partnership.
... Although some consideration was made of clustering in types of IPV and severity of physical (with or without injury) and sexual (rape or any sexual contact) IPV, we lacked comprehensive information on repetition, and our measure of economic IPV might have not captured this multidimensional form of abuse. 23 As a household sample, people living in refuges, prisons, or other institutional settings, or who were experiencing homelessness were out of its scope, and these groups are likely to be at higher risk of both IPV and self-harm and suicidality. 24 Although some information was selfcompleted, under-reporting of stigmatised experiences remains possible, especially where participants were living with a violent partner at the time of the interview. ...
This article offers a discourse analysis of domestic abuse's 'Man Problem' by combining and developing Naffine's, Foucault's and Bacchi's work in a new way. Taking the parliamentary debates around the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 in England and Wales as our focus, we critique how MPs problematise gender to justify a gender-neutral definition of domestic violence and abuse (DVA). We illustrate how MPs reframe DVA's 'man problem' not as the problem of men as perpetrators of violence against women. But rather, they represent the law and policy 'problem' as men's invisibility as victims of DVA. We develop a new theoretical innovation to advance our critique: discursive co-option, and we uncover two gender paradoxes. We argue that MPs co-opt gender equality discourses to advance masculinist politics and patriarchal logics in ways that have detrimental effects for the less powerful, and which elide the reality of women's experiences of DVA.
Financial abuse is a form of violence that can extend well beyond intimate partner relationship breakdown. A survey of 540 Australian separated parents examined how financial abuse was perpetrated, with a focus on child support and other government systems. Women reported that their ex-partners minimized and withheld child support payments to inflict direct financial harm, while interactions between the family court, taxation, and benefit payment systems were taken advantage of to threaten or control them. Findings revealed how the mandatory and complex Australian child support system provided perpetrators with a useful means of perpetrating financial abuse across households.
This paper defines the first internationally comparable measure of the risk of economic violence to acknowledge its prevalence in different countries and its geographical and gender heterogeneity. Thanks to the availability of micro-data from the OECD/International Network on Financial Education survey, currently used to track financial literacy in different countries, we define a measure of the risk of economic violence (REV) that takes into consideration three macro-areas: (a) the risk of being prevented from acquiring and accumulating financial resources; (b) the risk of being unaware and not having access to personal and/or household financial resources; and (c) the risk of financial dependency. The definition of the new economic violence risk measure (REV) then allows us to verify with real data the presence of women’s greater exposure to the risk of economic violence and the presence of gender differences in the determinants of economic violence risk. Finally, we verify that financial literacy protects individuals from the risk of economic violence, without gender differences.
This article examines staff and client perspectives on an initiative providing co-located specialist Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) financial counseling in women's legal services. An exploratory mixed-method study in five service locations captured perspectives via a client survey (n = 42), online interviews with staff (n = 15), and a review of services’ progress reports. For staff and clients, integrating financial counseling into women's legal services contributed to a more comprehensive model of support which helped address the economic harms associated with violence. Findings highlight the benefits of service integration and co-location, which enabled staff to share knowledge and build capacity, and helped improve outcomes for women following violence.
Open access at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10778012241263103
This article examines staff and client perspectives on an initiative providing co-located specialist Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) financial counseling in women's legal services. An exploratory mixed-method study in five service locations captured perspectives via a client survey ( n = 42), online interviews with staff ( n = 15), and a review of services’ progress reports. For staff and clients, integrating financial counseling into women's legal services contributed to a more comprehensive model of support which helped address the economic harms associated with violence. Findings highlight the benefits of service integration and co-location, which enabled staff to share knowledge and build capacity, and helped improve outcomes for women following violence.
Economic abuse (EA)—intimate partners' efforts to control women's economic resources—still suffers from ambiguous legal recognition. Even in countries with legal recognition, state allocation of resources for support remains meager. We suggest that Israeli state welfare organizations (SWOs) employees have developed their professional response to EA along two distinct value sets—a dominant institutional logic in their respective organizations and a more covert feminist institutional logic encountered in collaborations with feminist Non Governmental Organizations. Using a framework of multiple institutional logics, in interviews with 48 SWO employees, we map the multiple institutional logics that cultivate responses to EA survivors and show that elements of feminist understanding and practices on EA permeate SWOs' practices. The existence of a feminist institutional logic creates a path for exploring whether the feminist impact is significant in enabling committed responses to EA even while no institutional change is achieved.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a global social problem that includes using coercive control strategies, including financial abuse, to manage and entrap an intimate partner. Financial abuse restricts or removes another person’s access to financial resources and their participation in financial decisions, forcing their financial dependence, or alternatively exploits their money and economic resources for the abuser’s gain. Banks have some stake in the prevention of and response to IPV, given their unique role in household finances and growing recognition an equitable society is one inclusive of consumers with vulnerabilities. Institutional practices may unwittingly enable abusive partners’ financial control as seemingly benign regulatory policy and tools of household money management exacerbate unequal power dynamics. To date, business ethicists have tended to take a broader view of banker professional responsibility, especially post-Global Financial Crisis. Little scholarship examines if, when and how a bank should respond to societal issues, such as IPV, traditionally outside their ‘remit’ of banking services. I extend existing understandings of ‘systemic harm’ to conceptualise the bank’s role in addressing economic harm in the context of IPV, viewing IPV and financial abuse through a consumer vulnerability lens to translate theory into practice. Two in-depth stories of financial abuse further illustrate the active role banks can and should take in combating financial abuse.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health problem worldwide. IPV-related perceptions and attitudes are linked to IPV's actual perpetration and related victimization. There is a typical gender paradigm in IPV, wherein women are victims and men are perpetrators, which influences judgments toward IPV. Some socio-cultural norms or unjust notions of gender are also intertwined with this paradigm and influence perceptions of IPV. This study explored judgments and attributions of IPV in the Chinese context while extensively considering directionality, gender stereotypes, and ambivalent sexism by surveying 887 participants online. Participants read 1 of 12 scenarios and made judgments and attributions of responsibility regarding IPV. The results indicate that hostile sexism is negatively correlated with IPV perception but positively correlated with its justification. The direction of perpetration and gender stereotypicality had some main effects on judgments of IPV, and there were some interactions between these factors. The perception level of IPV involving a traditional male partner was higher when the man was the perpetrator or when his female partner was traditional. In the unidirectional IPV scenarios, the perpetrators were judged as significantly more responsible than the victims, while in the bidirectional IPV scenarios, men were judged as significantly more responsible than women. Moreover, the relationship between gender stereotypicality and responsibility attributions to female partners was significantly moderated by benevolent sexism (BS). Participants with a high level of BS tended to attribute less responsibility to traditional women than non-traditional women in bidirectional IPV scenarios. Future studies on IPV should pay attention to the influence of directionality and gender stereotypes. More efforts ought to be made to reduce IPV and overcome gender role stereotypes and sexism.
The project DV_Support is a European Union Horizon 2020 – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action to carry out the first-ever study of domestic abuse amongst Polish women living in the UK or any EU country. It draws on an inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration between Dr Iwona Zielińska (Principal Investigator), EDAN Lincs – the main domestic abuse organisation in Lincolnshire (Host Organisation) and a team of senior researchers at the University of Lincoln (UoL – Secondment).
There are three main goals of the project:
Understand the nature of domestic violence experienced by Polish women in the UK, including the cultural, transnational, migration, family and socio-economic factors that influence it.
Identify barriers to and enablers of help-seeking, leaving and recovering from abusive relationships by Polish women living in the UK
Make recommendations about how domestic violence services in the UK, Poland and EU countries can better respond to the specific needs of Polish migrant women.
A mixture of qualitative methods are being utilised in the study: (1) media analysis of representations of domestic abuse in Poland; (2) interviews with frontline professionals who have direct experience of working with domestic abuse in Polish families in the UK (3) in-depth life history interviews with Polish women victims/survivors of domestic abuse (4) organisational analysis of the history, successes and challenges faced by specialist domestic abuse services for Polish women in the UK.
The project’s final report with findings and practice, policy and research recommendations was published in June 2022.
In June 2020, Surviving Economic Abuse launched The Cost of COVID-19 research, comprising a survey and semi-structured interviews with victim-survivors of economic abuse. A self-selecting sample of 360 victim-survivors completed the survey, and a total of 62 interviews were held. The research explored a number of topics, including victim-survivors’ access to child maintenance payments during the pandemic. The research found that perpetrators of economic abuse have been able to use the pandemic and the measures introduced to control its spread to economically abused victim-survivors, including by interfering with child maintenance payments.Of female victim-survivors eligible for child maintenance payments and who participated in the research, 84 per cent were worried about current access to their payments. Twenty-two per cent reported that the perpetrator had stopped paying child maintenance during the pandemic and 18 per cent reported that they had paid unreliably. This left women unable to rely on payments and struggling to afford essentials for themselves and their children, including food. Women described difficulty in contacting the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), while perpetrators stopped or reduced payments without providing evidence for a change in circumstances. Urgent changes to the CMS are required to ensure that victim-survivors of economic abuse can access child maintenance payments reliably.
Key messages (if applicable)
Perpetrators of economic abuse have been able to pay child maintenance unreliably during the pandemic, including by paying late or less than agreed, or stopping payments altogether.
Of UK female victim-survivors of economic abuse in our sample eligible for child maintenance, 84 per cent were worried about their access to payments.
Victim-survivors shared that they could not rely on child maintenance as a regular part of their budget, and struggled to afford essentials as a result. </ul
This chapter surveys the extent of the problem of domestic violence in England and Wales, with a particular emphasis on the vulnerabilities of women, a range of minorities and of children. This chapter also begins to explore the poor policy monitoring of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme and the manner in which ‘victim vulnerability’ produces real problems for the operation of any ‘Clare’s Law’ policy. This chapter also discusses problems with the prediction of the risk of domestic violence, as well as suggestions from reported cases that the DVDS can be ‘victim-blaming’.
Awareness of and responses to intimate partner violence against women (IPV-W) have been increasing steadily since the early 1970s. However, one of the most frequently used and effective strategies by abusive partners, economic abuse (EA), has received much less attention than physical or sexual abuse. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with IPV-W service users ( n = 15) and providers ( n = 24) in England to expand the knowledge-base and provide support regarding the reality and impact of EA, the economic barriers and supports experienced when trying to obtain help, and recommendations for remediating EA. Grounded theory procedures of open, axial, and selective coding techniques were utilized for data analysis. Five themes, (a) definitions and prevalence of EA, (b) service users experiences of EA, ( c) continued impact of EA, ( d) barriers to obtaining help, and (e) goals regarding finances, emerged with both groups. The theme professional responses to EA also surfaced for service providers, and service users discussed the additional theme of service users’ support when experiencing EA. The study participants’ recommendations include (a) identifying EA as a distinct type of IPV-W, (b) updating legal guideline to allow offenders of EA to be prosecuted, (c) encouraging banks to do more to assist victims of EA, and (d) updating police training and frontline workers to include EA. The narratives of the study participants underscore the import of collaboration with and involvement of IPV-W service user and provider stakeholders when developing and implementing policies, programs, and practices to prevent further EA and meet the distinctive needs of women who experience EA as a part of IPV-W.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to advance the measurement of economic abuse by developing an updated version of the Scale of Economic Abuse that addresses key limitations of existing instruments. Building on the original Scale of Economic Abuse, we constructed a 2-dimensional Revised Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA2) to measure abusers’ use of economic restriction and economic exploitation to exert control over the economic domain of their partners’ lives. Method: Using data collected through a survey of 248 women seeking services for intimate partner violence (IPV), we examined the factor structure of the 14-item SEA2 to test the psychometric soundness of the 2-dimensional conceptualization. We also performed an initial test of the instrument’s construct validity by examining its relationship with closely associated constructs, material dependence on the abuser and outstanding debt. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the 2-factor structure of the SEA2. Regression analysis results suggested that the SEA2 measures an economic dimension of IPV as intended and provided initial evidence that the 2 subscales measure distinct forms of economic abuse. Conclusion: The SEA2 appears to be a psychometrically sound instrument for measuring the economic abuse construct. Researchers can use this instrument to further our understanding of the correlates and consequences of this distinct form of IPV. Practitioners could use the SEA2 to assess the types and extent of economic abuse their clients experienced. The substantive findings of the study also have implications for practice and policy.
Financial abuse refers to men’s control over money, assets, and women’s education or paid work. As a corrective to existing undertheorization of men’s (and their family’s) abuse of and control over women’s unpaid (domestic) labor, this article proposes a new conceptualization of economic abuse. Drawing upon life-history interviews with 41 South Asian women from the United Kingdom and India, this article explores control and abuse in relation to financial resources and women’s paid work as well as unpaid work. It utilizes an intersectional perspective to explore how gender, migration status, race/ethnicity, and class can improve understanding of women’s experiences as a continuum of economic abuse.
Objective: To expand our understanding of the effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) on women’s general psychological well-being by empirically investigating the longitudinal effects of economic abuse on subjective quality of life. Method: In total, 94 women who had recently experienced physical violence and were receiving IPV services participated in 3 in-person interviews over a 4-month period. Results: Time 1 (T1) economic abuse was not related to perceived quality of life at T1 or to change in quality of life over time. However, within-woman change in economic abuse was significantly related to change in quality of life over time. In other words, relative to T1, at times when economic abuse was higher, quality of life was lower, and vice versa. Conclusion: These findings suggest that economic abuse plays a role in the psychological well-being of IPV survivors, and the effect appears to be immediate. Research examining the psychological consequences of IPV would benefit from the inclusion of economic abuse in the measurement of IPV. Further, research examining the effects of economic abuse on survivors’ psychological well-being should consider including indicators of quality of life and explore how this relationship unfolds over time using a lagged design and a longer follow-up period. Finally, practitioners can support the overall psychological well-being of survivors of IPV by implementing strategies to help prevent, minimize, or recover from economic abuse.
The predominant perception of intimate partner violence (IPV) as constituting physical violence can still dominate, particularly in research and media reports, despite research documenting multiple forms of IPV including sexual violence occurring between intimate partners and various forms of psychological and emotional abuse. One frequently hidden or “invisible” form of abuse perpetrated within intimate partner relationships is economic abuse, also referred to as financial abuse in much of the literature. While the links between gendered economic insecurity and economic abuse are emerging, there remains a lack of consistency about definitions within the United States and globally, as there is no agreed upon index with which to measure economic abuse. As such, the purpose of this article is to review and analyze the global literature focused on either economic or financial abuse to determine how it is defined and what measures are used to capture its prevalence and impact. The 46 peer-reviewed articles that met all inclusion criteria for analysis came from a range of countries across six continents. Our review found that there is growing clarity and consistency of terminologies being used in these articles and found some consistency in the use of validated measures. Since this research is in its “infancy,” we need to have stronger collaborative efforts to use similar measures and terminology. Part of that collaborative effort is to consider how language and cultural differences may play a part in our understanding of economic abuse.
Objectives: The objectives of the paper are to (a) extend current conceptualizations of economic abuse by incorporating diverse perspectives from South-Asian women in Britain, India, and Pakistan and (b) present a typology of financial strategies used by the women to deal with economic abuse. Method: Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, 84 married women with dependent children from South-Asian backgrounds were recruited through community networks in Britain (Pakistani Muslims n = 23; Gujarati Hindus n = 12), India (Gujarati Hindus n = 26), and Pakistan (Pakistani Muslims, n = 23) for in-depth interviews. Results: The women’s accounts included 4 kinds of economic abuse recognized in current literature, (a) preventing the acquisition of economic resources, (b) preventing the use of resources, (c) refusing to contribute, and (d) exploiting women’s resources and/or generating economic costs, as well as 2 unique abuses, (e) exploiting women’s customary marriage gifts including jahez/dahej, haq meher, bari, and streedhan, and (f) jeopardizing women’s long-term finances (e.g., through transnational investments). In addition, the results illuminate 4 financial strategies used by the women that have not previously been identified in the literature. These can be typified as (a) material, (b) confrontational, (c) mediational, and (d) developmental. Conclusions: This paper contributes new understandings on the globally pervasive but understudied phenomenon of economic abuse by including the perspectives of South-Asian women living in Britain and in South Asia. It challenges notions that South-Asian women are submissive or victims by highlighting the financial strategies they used in agentic resistance to economic abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
We report on the development of, and findings from, two scales measuring coercive control and space for action over a period of 3 years in a sample of 100 women who had accessed domestic violence services. We present statistical evidence to show a significant correlation between coercive control and space for action. However, dealing with violence is not a linear process, and support needs to extend beyond being enabled to separate. The scales advance measurement of women’s experience of coercive control and, through the space for action scale, document their ability to restore agency and freedom in contexts of relative safety.
Recent attention has been given by researchers to understanding how abusers use economic abuse strategies. Unfortunately, limited measures are available to accurately understand the prevalence of economic abuse in the lives of survivors. Recently, researchers created the 28-item Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA) but further validation is needed. This article describes the psychometric evaluation of the SEA through confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses using data collected with 120 survivors of abuse. The findings provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the SEA-12 as a shorter instrument to measure economic abuse as a distinct form of abuse.
Using the first four waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), this article examined the long-term impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) on maternal depression and parenting. Findings from multivariate logistic regressions demonstrated that economic and psychological abuse at Year 1 had significant effects on the likelihood of mothers experiencing depression and spanking their children at Year 5. Psychological abuse experiences at Year 1 had a significant effect on the level of engagement with their children at Year 5. However, experiences of physical violence at Year 1 did not significantly impact mothers' depression or parenting. In addition, the results indicated that both the level and change of economic abuse increased the odds of mothers experiencing depression at Year 5. Similarly, both the level and change of psychological abuse decreased the odds of mothers engaging with their children at Year 5. Finally, the level of economic and psychological abuse at Year 1 increased the odds of the use of spanking in Year 5. These results suggest that there are long-term effects of economic and psychological abuse on mothers' depression and parenting and that more research is needed to understand the impact of abuse, specifically of economic abuse, among families that are victims of interpersonal violence.
Although research into intimate partner abuse has expanded throughout the past several decades and increased our understanding
of this multi-faceted phenomenon, the vast majority of empirical work is still focused almost exclusively on physical violence—against
women in particular. Although a crucial issue in our society, physical violence against women is only one facet in an array
of possible abusive behaviors toward an intimate partner. Researchers have long acknowledged the existence of multiple forms
of non-physical abuse. These types of abuse have received little research attention, however, and are commonly lumped together
simply as “non-physical” or “emotional” abuse. There is no reason to believe, however, that all forms of non-physical abuse
are the same, whether in intensity, frequency, or co-existence with physical violence. The current study attempts to disentangle
the multiple types of nonviolent abuse to examine prevalence, differences by sex, and its relationships to physical abuse.
Using Tjaden and Thoennes’ (1998) survey data, this study examines the prevalence of different types of non-physical abuse, both in the general population
and among those experiencing physical violence Findings indicate that non-physical partner abuse is more common than physical
and that non-physical abuse does not show striking sex differences, as is commonly believed. There is strong evidence that
some types of non-physical abuse serve as clear risk factors for physical abuse and may increase risk of more frequent violence
among those already being abused. These relationships do not, however, differ by sex. Implications for future research are
discussed.
Feminist Review (2003) 73, 139–144. doi:10.1057/palgrave.fr.9400086
Despite its great achievements, the domestic violence revolution is stalled, Evan Stark argues, a provocative conclusion he documents by showing that interventions have failed to improve women's long-term safety in relationships or to hold perpetrators accountable. Stark traces this failure to a startling paradox, that the singular focus on violence against women masks an even more devastating reality. In millions of abusive relationships, men use a largely unidentified form of subjugation that more closely resembles kidnapping or indentured servitude than assault. He calls this pattern "coercive control." Drawing on sources that range from FBI statistics and film to dozens of actual cases from his thirty years of experience as an award-winning researcher, advocate, and forensic expert, Stark shows in terrifying detail how men can use coercive control to extend their dominance over time and through social space in ways that subvert women's autonomy, isolate them, and infiltrate the most intimate corners of their lives. Against this backdrop, Stark analyzes the cases of three women tried for crimes committed in the context of abuse, showing that their reactions are only intelligible when they are reframed as victims of coercive control rather than as "battered wives." The story of physical and sexual violence against women has been told often. But this is the first book to show that most abused women who seek help do so because their rights and liberties have been jeopardized not because they have been injured. The coercive control model Stark develops resolves three of the most perplexing challenges posed by abuse: why these relationships endure, why abused women develop a profile of problems seen among no other group of assault victims, and why the legal system has failed to win them justice. Elevating coercive control from a second-class misdemeanor to a human rights violation, Stark explains why law, policy, and advocacy must shift their focus to emphasize how coercive control jeopardizes women's freedom in everyday life. Fiercely argued and eminently readable, Stark's work is certain to breathe new life into the domestic violence revolution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Over the past several decades, the modern domestic violence (DV) movement has had some success in reforming the systems on which survivors must rely to achieve basic safety for themselves and their families. Although far from perfect in their treatment of domestic violence, police departments, hospitals, and family law courts are at least now engaged in the conversation about DV as a social problem, rather than denying its existence or importance. But there is a new form of domestic violence that has not yet been recognized and which needs to be addressed: Financial abuse through consumer credit. As consumer lending has permeated American life, violent partners have begun using debt as a means of exercising abusive control, making the consumer credit system an unknowing party to domestic violence.Coerced debt can take a variety of forms. It ranges from abusers taking out credit cards in their partners' names without their knowledge to forcing victims to obtain loans for the abuser to tricking victims into signing quit claims deeds for the family home. This article uses original, empirical data to explore how abusive relationship dynamics interact with a complex and amorphous consumer credit system to leave many victims of domestic violence with hundreds or thousands of dollars of coerced debt.
For decades, battered women’s advocates have placed coercive control squarely at the center of their analysis of intimate partner violence. Yet, little work has been done to conceptualize and measure the key construct of coercive control. In this article, we apply French and Raven’s social power model to a conceptualization of coercive control in intimate partner violence relationships. Central elements of the model include: social ecology; setting the stage; coercion involving a demand and a credible threat for noncompliance; surveillance; delivery of threatened consequences; and the victim’s behavioral and emotional response to coercion. These elements occur in spiraling and overlapping sequences to establish an overall situation of coercive control. The implications of this model for theory and practice are discussed.
Economic abuse is part of the pattern of behaviors used by batterers to maintain power and control over their partners. However, no measure of economic abuse exists. This study describes the development of the Scale of Economic Abuse, which was designed to fill this gap. Interviews were conducted with 103 survivors of domestic abuse, each of whom responded to measures of economic, physical, and psychological abuse as well as economic hardship. Results provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the scale. This study is an important first step toward understanding the extent and impact of economic abuse experienced by survivors.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs at disproportionate rates within impoverished groups of women and can include economic abuse as a form of psychological maltreatment. The current study developed a comprehensive assessment of the unique financial issues facing female victims of IPV using a sheltered sample (N = 113). An exploratory factor analysis (principal-axis factoring with varimax rotation) was conducted on 24 items of the newly developed Domestic Violence-Related Financial Issues Scale. Preliminary results supported five extracted factors, which accounted for approximately 53% of the total common variance in the women's responses. Psychometric properties of the instrument are presented.
Transforming the response to domestic abuse: consultation response and draft bill
- Hm Government
HM Government (2019) Transforming the response to domestic abuse: consultation
response and draft bill, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/
uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/772202/CCS1218158068-Web_
Accessible.pdf.
Spotlight on Economic Abuse: A Literature and Policy Review
- F Macdonald
- Macdonald, F.
Macdonald, F. (2012) Spotlight on Economic Abuse: A Literature and Policy Review, North
Collingwood, Victoria: Good Shepherd Youth and Family Service.
What’s Yours is Mine’: The Different forms of Economic Abuse and its Impact on Women and Children Experiencing Domestic Violence
- N Sharp
- Sharp, N.
Sharp, N. (2008) 'What's Yours is Mine': The Different forms of Economic Abuse and its
Impact on Women and Children Experiencing Domestic Violence, London: Refuge.
A Review of Research and Policy on Financial Abuse Within Intimate Partner Relationships
- N Sharp-Jeffs
- Sharp-Jeffs, N.
Sharp-Jeffs, N. (2015a) A Review of Research and Policy on Financial Abuse Within Intimate
Partner Relationships, London: CWASU.
Money Matters: Research into the Extent and Nature of Financial Abuse Within Intimate Relationships in the UK
- N Sharp-Jeffs
- Sharp-Jeffs, N.
Sharp-Jeffs, N. (2015b) Money Matters: Research into the Extent and Nature of Financial
Abuse Within Intimate Relationships in the UK, London: The Co-operative Bank/
Refuge.
Into plain sight: how economic abuse is reflected in successful prosecutions of controlling or coercive behavior
- N Sharp-Jeffs
- S Learmonth
- Sharp-Jeffs, N.
Sharp-Jeffs, N. with Learmonth, S. (2017) Into plain sight: how economic abuse is reflected
in successful prosecutions of controlling or coercive behavior, London: Surviving Economic
Abuse.
- R Thiara
- A Gill
Thiara, R. and Gill, A. (2010) Violence Against Women in South Asian Communities: Issues
for Policy and Practice, London: Jessica Kingsley.
Ensuring data collection and research: a collection of papers on the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence
- S Walby
- Walby, S.
Walby, S. (2016) Ensuring data collection and research: a collection of papers
on the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating
Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, https://rm.coe.int/
CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0
900001680640efc.
Economic abuse: a subtle but common form of power and control
- K Christy
- T Welter
- K Dundon
- A Bruce
- Christy, K.
Understanding Domestic Homicide
- N Websdale
- Websdale, N.
Domestic abuse bill: explanatory notes
- House
- Commons