Domestic Economic Abuse

"Supriya Singh tells the stories of 12 Anglo-Celtic and Indian women in Australia who survived economic abuse. She describing describes the lived experience of coercive control underlying economic abuse across cultures. Each story shows how the woman was entrapped and lost her freedom because her husband denied her money, appropriated her assets and sabotaged her ability to be in paid work. These stories are about silence, shame and embarrassment that this could happen despite professional and graduate education. Some of the women were the main earners in their household. Women spoke of being afraid, of trying to leave, of losing their sense of self. Many suffered physical and mental ill-health, not knowing what would trigger the violence. Some attempted suicide. Most did not recognise they were suffering economic abuse and that this was family violence. Each The stories also show that story is also different as money as a medium of care becomes a medium of abuse when used without morality. Economic abuse does not rest with a particular cultural practice. It happens across cultures. economic abuse is shaped by the way women and men own, manage and control money in various cultures. The women's stories learnt the importance of talking about money and relationships with future partners, across life stages and with their sons and daughters. They saw this as an essential step for preventing and lessening economic abuse. studying economic abuse in the cultural context of the gender and morality of money. Economic abuse gets shaped by the way women and men manage, use, control and think about money. They also show the importance of sociologists of money going further than studying management and control through decision making. A vital read for scholars of domestic abuse and family violence, that will also be valuable for sociologists of money"--

Supriya Singh tells the stories of 12 Anglo-Celtic and Indian women in Australia who survived economic abuse. She describes the lived experience of coercive control underlying economic abuse across cultures. Each story shows how the woman was trapped and lost her freedom because her husband denied her money, appropriated her assets and sabotaged her ability to be in paid work. These stories are about silence, shame and embarrassment that this could happen despite professional and graduate education. Some of the women were the main earners in their household. Women spoke of being afraid, of trying to leave, of losing their sense of self. Many suffered physical and mental ill-health, not knowing what would trigger the violence. Some attempted suicide. None of the women fully realised they were suffering family violence through economic abuse, whilst it was happening to them. The stories of Anglo-Celtic and Indian women show economic abuse is not associated with a specific system of money management and control. It is when the morality of money is betrayed that control becomes coercive. Money as a medium of care then becomes a medium of abuse. The women’s stories demonstrate the importance of talking about money and relationships with future partners, across life stages and with their sons and daughters. The women saw this as an essential step for preventing and lessening economic abuse. A vital read for scholars of domestic abuse and family violence that will also be valuable for sociologists of money.

Despite being recognised by victim-survivors as a tactic used by abusers, economic abuse has received little attention in research, policy, or practice. This powerful book provides a crucial validation of the lived experience of victim-survivors, and highlights the urgent need to develop effective responses to economic abuse.

Drawing on cases, Stark identifies the problems with our current approach to domestic violence, outlines the components of coercive control, and then uses this alternate framework to analyse the cases of battered women charged with criminal offenses directed at their abusers.

In Australia, economic abuse - also known as economic violence, economic control, economic deprivation, financial abuse and financial control - has only recently been recognised as a form of family and domestic violence. As part of the Spotlight on Economic Abuse Project, this report provides a review of the Australian and international literature on the topic. It reviews key issues, policies and practices, and opportunities for intervention in the areas of influences and impacts, public policy, legal and regulatory frameworks, and community services.

Case histories of some 300 homicides involving family members, framed within their interpersonal, familial, cultural, and situational contexts.

This book makes an important contribution to the international understanding of domestic violence and shares the latest knowledge of what causes and sustains domestic violence between intimate partners, as well as the effectiveness of responses in working with adult and child victims, and those who act abusively towards their partners. Drawing upon a wide range of contemporary research from across the globe, it recognises that domestic violence is both universal, but also shaped by local cultures and contexts. Divided into seven parts: • Introduction. • Theoretical perspectives on domestic violence and abuse. • Domestic violence and abuse across the life-course. • Manifestations of domestic violence and abuse. • Responding to domestic violence and abuse. • Researching domestic violence and abuse. • Concluding thoughts. It will be of interest to all academics and students working in social work, allied health, sociology, criminology and gender studies as well as policy professionals looking for new approaches to the subject.