Economic dependence sometimes creates a barrier for individuals trapped in abusive intimate relationships. When one partner controls the finances and housing, and the victim has limited employment opportunities because they are house-bound, it establishes a power imbalance that can entrap the other partner in the relationship.
The partner who controls the money, and thus the power in the relationship, can manipulate the victim's vulnerability because of a lack of resources or needed support systems to safely escape an abusive relationship.
Without any money or any independence, victims of domestic violence might not be able to afford the essentials, including food, shelter, health and transportation.
Financial abuse and control of women is a historical issue in Canada with women only being able to open bank accounts as of 1964.
Victims also worry about their children's well-being.
They also feel the pressure to stay and take care of the children as they don't have any money or a place to go.
Supportive resources such as access to shelters, job training and legal services are essential for victims to escape, become more independent and move toward safety and stability.
A research study by the Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment stated Indigenous women are three times more likely to experience economic abuse than non-Indigenous women.
About six per cent of non-Indigenous women were forced to give money or possessions to their partners, and about 13 per cent of Indigenous women were denied access to employment, money or financial resources.
In the same study, about 86 per cent of victim-survivors were urged to quit work by their abuser, and 93 per cent of their abusers did not allow them to have any of their own money. They took their phones and their pay cheques.
In the study funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada, a survivor named Grace said she was forced to live with her controlling and abusive ex-husband for 10 years.
After she gave birth to her child, he started taking control of the family’s money. She worked long hours, and he would ask her to take out a credit and use her name to purchase the house.
Grace suffered violent trauma and required many surgeries due to him constantly abusing her. A doctor told her she wasn't allowed to work due to her anxiety and surgeries. In the end, she finally left him, but he took everything from her, except for a little bit of money left on her as she spent all of it on housing.
Grace did not have any access to legal support. She was denied social housing due to the value of her ex-husband's property, and she was also denied a student loan because of a bad credit rating.
“I also was unable to receive social support from the government due to my ex-husband’s assets,” she told researchers. “I remember one day, I had no milk in my fridge and went to the food bank to feed my child.”
This research reported that 80 per cent of women agree that since COVID-19, their ex-partner has gotten more control or manipulative and changed their behaviour when it comes to finances and economics.
In early 2022, the Canadian Center for Women’s Empowerment surveyed victims to rate the helpfulness of various services. Doctors and mental health support services received a helpfulness rating of 41 per cent, followed by women’s shelters and organizations at 35.9 per cent and hospitals or clinics at 35.7 per cent.
Housing associations received a helpfulness rating of 33.6 per cent and welfare benefits 31.7 per cent. Homeless shelters received 31 per cent.
Statistics Canada's 2004 General Social Survey found 653,000 women have reported they had been physically or sexually assaulted by their partner in the previous five years, and 17 per cent of women report experiencing emotional or financial abuse.
In the 2009 analysis of the Economic Impact of Spousal Violence, about 65 per cent of all homicides were connected to spousal violence, while more than 28 per cent of women experienced repeated abuse before reaching out to the police.
These statistics highlight both the serious impact and the delay in reporting this violence and the contribution to its substantial social and economic costs.
Females continued to report more serious forms of spousal violence than males despite equal victimization rates when all incidents were included. Addressing these challenges requires comprehensive social reforms that include support services and desperately needed financial aid to help individuals regain stability.
