When Anna was in hospital giving birth, her partner used her baby’s milk tokens to buy beer. It was the first of many violations she would experience—not just physically or sexually, but financially. More than a decade later, she’s still unravelling the damage. “He’s ultimately still controlling everything,” she told BBC News. “It doesn’t matter what I do. I can never, ever get away from it.”
Anna’s story is not an outlier. A new study by the charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) reveals that over four million women in the UK have experienced economic abuse in the past year alone. For many, it goes unnoticed, unnamed, and unaddressed. But the impact is profound: ruined credit scores, homelessness, poverty, being stuck with an abuser, and an enduring sense of disempowerment that can outlast the relationship itself.
What Is Economic Abuse—and Why It’s So Hard to See?
Economic abuse is one of the most insidious forms of domestic abuse. It includes, among other tactics, controlling a partner’s access to money, sabotaging their employment, accumulating debt in their name, or using joint finances as a weapon of control—even long after separation.
According to SEA’s Counting the Cost report, many women remain unaware that what they’re experiencing has a name. Over half of women surveyed (55%) had never heard of economic abuse, while a third said they knew only a little about it. “Awareness is critical,” said SEA CEO Sam Smethers. “Those who are aware are more likely to get the help they need.”
For many survivors, the moment of realisation is seismic. “I can’t even say it was a lightbulb moment. It was a Wembley Stadium switch-the-lights-on moment,” Anna said, describing how she first heard the term on BBC Woman’s Hour. Before that, she simply thought her financial turmoil was bad luck.
The Hidden Debt and Devastation Left Behind
Economic abuse can leave survivors burdened with debts they didn’t accrue, barred from housing or credit due to bad scores, or unable to provide for their children. One woman surveyed said, “He used money as a weapon—even after the relationship ended.” Twenty years later, she’s still facing housing insecurity.
On the Shadows of Control Facebook page, dozens of survivors have shared similar experiences:
- “He maxed out credit cards in my name. Before and after, I was an excellent saver, but he didn’t want me to be financially independent. Money is power.”
- “My ex would take a large portion of my pay check. When we had a child, he berated me for maternity leave and said childcare costs were my responsibility alone.”
- “She controlled every penny—even gave me an allowance out of my own wages, then audited my purchases.”
- “My ex, a multi-millionaire, wouldn’t let me work. I had to ask for grocery money and explain why I needed it.”
These are deliberate strategies designed to trap victims in dependency and strip them of autonomy.
Who Is Most at Risk?
SEA’s research highlights the stark disparities in who is affected. Black, Asian, and minoritised women were more than twice as likely to experience economic abuse compared to white women. Disabled women, young women (ages 18–24), and mothers are also at heightened risk.
Nearly three in ten mothers surveyed reported being economically abused, compared to just one in ten women without children. The abuse often intersects with structural vulnerabilities such as immigration status, disability, and racism. “Perpetrators actively exploit systemic weaknesses… to cause harm,” said Rosa Wilson Garwood, the report’s author [via The BBC].
Many survivors also face institutional barriers to recovery. Appealing to banks, navigating joint mortgage debt, or dealing with the legal system can become nearly impossible without proper support.
Awareness Is a Lifeline
When survivors understand that their experience is a form of coercive control, they are more likely to reach out for help. SEA found that nearly two-thirds of women who recognised the abuse contacted the organisation. In contrast, 42% of those surveyed said they never told anyone—not even close friends or family.
“Knowing this was economic abuse would have made such a difference,” one survivor said. “It’s not just ‘what happens’ after divorce—it’s abuse. And people need to know that.”
Support services are beginning to catch up. Tools like the Economic Abuse Evidence Form allow survivors to work with trained advisers who can liaise with banks and financial institutions—helping survivors avoid the re-traumatisation of having to explain their story repeatedly.
Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding, called economic abuse a “true hidden crime” and confirmed the government’s ambition to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade. “No woman should be trapped in an abusive relationship because of the prospect of being plunged into poverty and homelessness,” she said.
For survivors like Anna, that change cannot come soon enough. She left him over ten years ago, but is still living with the consequences.
Featured image: Survey reveals economic abuse affects 1 in 4 woman. Source: KMPZZZ / Adobe Stock.
