The recent report titled Unequal, Trapped and Controlled by Women’s Aid in association with TUC highlights the misery and hidden figures for women who have been financially abused.
Financial abuse is defined as control over money and exploitation of a survivor’s income. This often leads to the survivor being trapped as they have little or no source of income, and no means of being able to obtain financial help for essentials.
This can carry on even after separation, through legal proceedings and maintenance. As it is extremely misunderstood and not recognised as a separate form of domestic abuse, the official statistics are severely lacking.
The report finds that:
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75 per cent were prevented from seeing family and friends
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76 per cent agreed that their partner kept financial information from them
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67 per cent of those in paid work at the time of the abuse agreed that their partner monitored their work activities
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58 per cent agreed that their partners used them as a source of money.
Many of the women who took part in the survey said that they had joint accounts with their partner; however, they were not able to use the money in these accounts.
A third of the responders said that their husbands would take their wages directly from them. This money was then used for their own selfish needs, leaving the survivor and their children without basic essentials.
The survivors expressed concern towards the Universal Credit scheme, as they felt that a single payment per couple would mean that their abuser would simply take all of the money; allowing further control.
Many survivors felt that they had received a poor response from social services, lawyers, banks due to the lack of awareness of financial abuse. Women’s Aid and TUC are therefore, calling on governmental departments and agencies as well as banks to address this issue.
Are you concerned about the issues in this article?
Are you concerned that you or someone you know may be subject to financial abuse?
Contact our experienced family law team on 02392 492967 for a confidential chat about how we can help you.
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