As we know 95% of women who have experienced domestic abuse have suffered from economic abuse (according to SEA’s research), for the past four years SATEDA has delivered Economic Abuse awareness sessions to women we support.
Tracy, our Economic Abuse session facilitator says, “Economic Abuse is a huge barrier for those experiencing domestic abuse to leaving and can have a huge impact on their lives and the lives of their children. 100% of those attending our client drop in realised they had experienced economic abuse and now know where to go for help.”
We now feel it is time to share our knowledge and experience with the wider community.
With grant support from Swale Borough Council, our live chat service will now be available every Wednesday from 1pm to 3pm for professionals and women in need of advice and signposting around economic abuse matters.
Why call it Economic Abuse?
The wording financial abuse can be understood as only dealing with cash and bank accounts, but it doesn’t stop there….
- Economic abuse includes anything to do with money that affects your day to day life
- It involves housing, work, education, isolation, food, clothing, heating, electric, gas, transport
- It impacts loans, credit ratings, benefits, inheritances.
- It can involve repeated court cases, ongoing and coerced debt, child maintenance.
Economic abuse can impact all aspects of your life, whether you are still in the relationship or not. And it’s debilitating, with serious mental health impacts. That’s why it’s so important that the Domestic Abuse Act includes Post Separation Abuse, where we know Economic Abuse is a rampant way abusers maintain power and control.