Surviving Economic Abuse

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The charity Surviving Economic Abuse estimates that 4.2 million women in the UK are living with economic abuse.

Let that number sink in. Millions of women navigating a silent form of control that most people still struggle to recognise.

A recent report highlighted by The Guardian exposes a chilling truth: economic abuse is not just about money — it can be a matter of life and death.

Economic abuse rarely happens in isolation. It is woven into patterns of coercive control. A partner may control bank accounts, block access to income, sabotage employment, build debt in someone else’s name, or manipulate the systems meant to protect families. From the outside, people often ask a painful question:

“Why didn’t she just leave?”

But anyone who has lived this reality knows the truth.

Leaving is not simple when your survival has been financially engineered.

When someone controls the money, they control the options. They control whether you can rent somewhere safe. They control whether you can feed your children. They control whether you can access transport, legal advice, childcare, or even basic independence.

For many families, escaping means months or years of quiet planning. Hiding small amounts of money. Gathering documents. Waiting for the moment when leaving will not make things even more dangerous.

And all the while, children are living inside this reality too.

They see the stress.

They feel the instability.

They absorb the fear.

Economic abuse does not just trap partners , it traps entire families.

Yet it remains one of the least understood forms of domestic abuse. It doesn’t always leave bruises. It leaves debt, poverty, anxiety, and long-term instability.

Survivors are often rebuilding their lives from financial ruin while still trying to protect their children and navigate systems that were never designed to recognise economic control.

This is why awareness matters.

This is why conversations matter.

And this is why survivors speaking out matters.

Because economic abuse thrives in silence.

The more we understand it, the harder it becomes to ignore.

The more we talk about it, the more survivors realise they are not alone.

And the more pressure we place on institutions, systems, and policymakers to recognise that financial control is abuse, and it destroys lives.

If we want to protect families, we must start taking economic abuse seriously.

This is not just a personal issue.

It is a national one.

And it is time we stood together and demanded change.

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Deanna Newell Family Law

Advocacy for truth-tellers, survivors, and the children who deserve better