Woman amassed high income but found herself financially stranded, unable to flee abusive spouse who posed deadly threat
In a significant move to combat domestic violence and economic abuse, the current UK government is focusing on a broader strategy to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG). While there is no standalone government-published strategy solely dedicated to economic abuse, recent actions and advocacy from expert organisations reveal key elements of the government's approach.
Jess Phillips, the safeguarding and violence against women and girls minister, has acknowledged the devastating impact of economic abuse on thousands of women each year. The government has pledged to address this issue, with the upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy set to be announced within the next few weeks.
The government has already invested £53 million over four years to target the most dangerous domestic abuse perpetrators through programs like the Drive Project. Although this initiative focuses on domestic abuse broadly, economic abuse is recognised as a form of coercive control that such programs also need to address.
Advocacy groups like Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) have been urging the government to place economic abuse at the centre of its strategy to halve VAWG in a decade. SEA's 2025-2028 strategy calls for systemic changes to support victim-survivors, disrupt abusers, and prevent economic abuse, aiming for economic justice, safety, and freedom for survivors.
However, criticism has been levelled at the government for disproportionately focusing on criminal justice interventions targeting high-risk perpetrators, while insufficiently funding preventative and support services addressing the broader spectrum of violence, including economic abuse.
The scale and impact of economic abuse are increasingly recognised as reaching "national emergency" levels, with particular harm to younger women, mothers, Black and minoritised women, and disabled women. Survivors often face economic hardship even after separation, such as ongoing debt, housing insecurity, and difficulty accessing child maintenance.
Amy, a victim of domestic violence and economic abuse, has experienced 25 years of violence and sexual abuse. Her husband controlled her finances, leaving her powerless, and drained her finances by prolonging divorce proceedings and inconsistently paying maintenance payments. He also controlled her food and clothing choices and offered their children money to make contact.
Key advocacy groups, including SEA, call for urgent systemic reforms that embed economic abuse centrally in the government's wider domestic abuse and VAWG strategies to ensure effective prevention, protection, and survivor recovery. Labour leader Keir Starmer has also labelled economic abuse as a "national emergency."
A survey by Surviving Economic Abuse found that 15% of women in the UK experienced economic abuse in the year to November 2024, which is equivalent to 4.1 million women. Approximately 23% of victims of economic abuse say it prevented them from leaving the relationship.
The aim of the new VAWG strategy is to halve violence against women and girls. The government will set out more details in their upcoming strategy, with the hope that economic abuse will be a key focus. The government has also allocated £160m for local authorities to provide safe accommodation and access to social housing for victims.
As the government continues to fund organisations like Surviving Economic Abuse to raise awareness of economic abuse and support its victims, it remains to be seen how the upcoming VAWG strategy will address this critical issue.
- Despite the lack of a standalone strategy, the government's approach to economic abuse, a form of domestic violence, is becoming clearer, as evidenced by their pledge to address it in the upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy.
- key advocacy groups like Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) are urging the government to prioritize economic abuse in their VAWG strategy, aiming for systemic changes to support victim-survivors, disrupt abusers, and prevent economic abuse.
- The general-news, personal-finance, politics, crime-and-justice, and business sectors have been actively discussing the national emergency levels of economic abuse, with its impact reaching younger women, mothers, Black and minoritised women, and disabled women, and its role in preventing victims from leaving their abusive relationships.
