Economic abuse in the lives of survivors of intimate partner violence:

1. Economic abuse in the lives of survivors of intimate partner violence: Provider and survivor perspectives Rachel J. Voth Schrag, MSW LCSW, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis Economic Abuse (EA) is one form of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). It Includes: disrupting employment or education, stealing checks or withholding support, destroying credit, and preventing participation in economic decision making. Methods Implications Discrepancies and Survivor Responses Results Background • Qualitative Techniques: • Phenomenological analysis, focused on thick description of Economic Abuse from the perspectives of survivors and those who work with them • Practitioner Interviews: • 7 in-person Interviews with current and former clinical and supervisory staff at IPV service agencies with job duties related to survivors of EA • Job tenure: 9 months-12 years • Interview length: 25-50 minutes • Semi-structured, 7 question guide • Transcribed and Coded in Nvivo • Archival Analysis of Survivor Narratives: • 5 on-line survivor archives reviewed • 36 total narratives • 13 specifically addressed themes of Economic Abuse, and were included in the final analysis • 4-5 paragraphs average length, telling each woman’s IPV survival story • Narratives were brought into Nvivo and coded Figure 1. Frequently used words in narrative texts Discrepancies: Survivor Theme: Economic Threats “He told me: you will end up in the gutter with nothing and no one, everybody believes I am a lovely person, on the other hand people think you are weird, you come from crap, so people know you are crap.” Practitioner Theme: Impact on Survivor Power “It has tremendous impacts on the woman’s life in many different areas, particularly related to her ability to achieve stabilization, financial freedom, independence removed from that partner.” Survivor Responses to EA: Creativity: “Women are very creative about keeping money from abusers and hiding it, anything from a freezer to a bank account, or getting creative around he gives me money for X and I’ll use that for groceries or other things that I need to.” Resourcefulness: “Resourcefulness in the sense of being able to figure out ways to keep your head above water, keep a roof over the kids head, food on the table, so resourcefulness in connecting with people, resources, food pantries, whatever to just make it work.” Resilience: “Its that ability to keep going in spite of obstacle and barriers that remain, its huge obstacles and barriers they are having to deal with and seem very prideful around those things, which they should.” EA is a serious issue in women’s lives, and should receive equal attention to other forms of IPV in research and practice. There is a need to increase focus on the impact of economic threats in women’s lives and decision making. Measurement tools and research studies should make this an area of focus. Practitioners can build on women’s resilience, resourcefulness, and creativity as they work to address EA. • One in four American women experience Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in their lifetime. • IPV includes physical, emotional, sexual, and economic abuse. • Economic Abuse (EA) has received less attention than other forms of IPV. • EA includes the use of exploitative or controlling tactics to destroy access to economic resources and prevent economic decision-making. Key Themes: The Experience of Economic Abuse Controlling Money: “He loved the fact that he could ‘own’ me by being controlling and watching my every move.” Work and School: “Then he made me lose my job.” “He stalked me, showed up at my house, my job, and my school.” “He would try to distract me from studying.” Credit and Debt “He told me to leave because he had another female in our car that we purchased together even though I paid for it most of the time.” Destroying Resources: “It could look like forcing the woman to work and demanding the entire paycheck be turned in or submitted to him or it could be very blatant where she is working, turning over the paycheck, and he’s gamboling it all and not contributing.” Research Goals • Understand the perspectives of survivors of IPV regarding the impact of Economic Abuse on their lives and functioning • Understand the perspectives of IPV service providers on the role of Economic Abuse in women’s IPV experiences and recovery • Understand the strengths of survivors of IPV as exhibited in the face of Economic Abuse • Identify discrepancies between survivor and practitioner perspectives Contact Information Acknowledgements: Rachel Voth Schrag, MSW rvothschrag@wustl.edu Economic Abuse creates major barriers for women working towards safety from Intimate Partner Violence. Survivors of IPV experience the threat of economic disruption as a significant barrier to leaving an abusive partner. IPV service providers should address the economic consequences of abuse along with mental and physical health and safety.