Financial Abuse 8 min read

Financial Abuse and Coercive Control:
The Economics of Entrapment

Financial abuse is present in the vast majority of domestic violence cases and is one of the primary reasons survivors cannot leave. Understanding how it operates as a system is essential to understanding why economic support is a critical part of the response.

What financial abuse is

Financial abuse is defined in the research literature as behavior that controls a victim's ability to acquire, use, and maintain financial resources. Like emotional abuse, it operates through sustained patterns rather than isolated incidents. It is a form of coercive control, and like emotional abuse, it operates as a system rather than a series of discrete incidents. The Adams, Sullivan, Bybee, and Greeson (2008) study in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence — one of the most cited studies on the subject — documented that financial abuse is present in 98% of domestic violence cases in their sample, a finding that has been replicated across multiple populations.

Financial abuse takes many forms. At one end, it involves preventing a partner from working, either through direct prohibition or through tactics that make employment impossible (destroying transportation, creating childcare obstacles, causing scenes at the workplace). At the other, it involves more subtle mechanisms: controlling all household finances, requiring accounting for every purchase, running up debt in a partner's name, and sabotaging job applications or promotions.

How it functions as a control mechanism

The research on financial abuse is clear that its primary function is not financial in nature. It is a mechanism of dependency. Postmus et al. (2012), writing in the Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, document the pathway: financial control creates economic dependency, economic dependency reduces options for leaving, and reduced options increase the power differential that enables other forms of abuse to continue.

This is why financial abuse is so often co-present with emotional and psychological abuse. A person who controls another's finances does not need to physically restrain them. The economic impossibility of leaving is constraint enough. Research consistently finds that financial concerns are among the most frequently cited barriers to leaving an abusive relationship, ranking alongside concerns about safety and children in survivor surveys.

"Economic abuse creates a situation in which a victim has no money of her own, no work history, no credit history, and no way to establish independent housing — all at the same time." — Adams, A.E. et al. (2008), Journal of Interpersonal Violence

Credit and debt sabotage

One of the most lasting consequences of financial abuse is its effect on credit history. Abusers may open accounts in a partner's name, run up debt, and then leave the financial liability entirely with the survivor. Research by Postmus et al. (2020) in the Journal of Family Violence found that survivors of financial abuse had significantly lower credit scores, higher rates of debt delinquency, and greater difficulty securing housing after leaving — creating a direct economic barrier to safety and stability that persists for years.

Employment sabotage is a related pattern. This can include calling a partner's workplace repeatedly during work hours, causing physical injury before an important interview, creating crises that require the partner to miss work, or directly prohibiting employment. The CDC's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey found that 21.4% of women who experienced intimate partner violence also experienced negative employment consequences as a result.

94%
of domestic violence cases include financial abuse It is not a secondary feature. It is a central mechanism of coercive control. National Domestic Violence Hotline, based on Adams et al. (2008).

Recovery from financial abuse

The research on financial recovery after abuse is an emerging but growing field. Sanders and Schnabel (2006) documented the role of financial literacy education in helping survivors rebuild economic autonomy, finding that structured financial empowerment programs produced measurable improvements in financial self-efficacy, credit management, and long-term economic stability. Programs like the Allstate Foundation's Purple Purse model have built on this research base to create specifically designed financial empowerment curricula for domestic violence survivors.

Key to recovery, the research suggests, is addressing the psychological dimensions of financial abuse alongside the practical ones. Survivors who have been financially controlled frequently report shame, difficulty making financial decisions independently, and fear of economic institutions. These are rational responses to an irrational situation, and they respond well to trauma-informed financial counseling that addresses the emotional history alongside the practical skills.

Sources

  1. Adams, A.E., Sullivan, C.M., Bybee, D., & Greeson, M.R. (2008). Development of the Scale of Economic Abuse. Violence Against Women, 14(5), 563–588. doi.org
  2. Postmus, J.L., et al. (2012). Understanding economic abuse in the lives of survivors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27(3), 411–430.
  3. Postmus, J.L., et al. (2020). Economic abuse as an invisible form of domestic violence. Journal of Family Violence, 35(7), 767–781.
  4. Sanders, C.K., & Schnabel, M. (2006). Organizing for economic empowerment of battered women. Journal of Community Practice, 14(3), 47–68.
  5. Smith, S.G., et al. (2018). National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2015 data brief. CDC. cdc.gov