Spotlight on economic abuse - Good Shepherd Youth & Family ...

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As part of repeated or ongoing controlling behaviour economic abuse is likely to occur in conjunction with and as part of other forms of domestic and family violence as indicated in the following examples, which draw on the ABS (2009) definitions of forms of family violence: interfering with education or employment may involve physical abuse such as restraining the woman or preventing sleep economic exploitation of a woman may involve sexual abuse where a woman is forced or coerced to engage in sexual activities for money psychological or emotional abuse whereby manipulative behaviour is used to make a woman feel she has or is a problem and cannot succeed at study or other endeavours interference with participation in employment and controlling access to economic resources may involve social abuse whereby a woman is forcibly isolated from family or friends and rendered unreasonably dependent on a partner interference with work participation may involve harassment or stalking such as constant phone calls or repeated visits to a workplace. Sharp (2008a) has developed an ‘economic abuse wheel’ to show how the use of economic abuse reinforces and overlaps with other types of control as a form of domestic violence Diagram 2: Economic Abuse Wheel 10
Economic abuse and elder abuse Economic abuse of older people has also been identified as a common form of ‘elder abuse’, which is a concept that is different from, but has a significant overlap with, domestic and family violence. Elder abuse may be a form of domestic or family violence or it may occur outside intimate personal and family relationships. The term refers to the harm or neglect of an older person by a person with whom the older person has a relationship of a kind that implies trust and/or dependence (ABS 2006; Elder Abuse Prevention Unit, viewed 7 July 2012 at ). Thus, elder abuse perpetrated by a partner, family member or by an unpaid carer in an informal relationship is a form of domestic or family violence while the concept also includes abuse in a much wider range of relationships, including with paid carers and in paid care settings (Office of the Public Advocate 2010, Queensland Law Society 2010). Outside Australia the term has also been used to refer to single incidents such as deception or controlling behaviour perpetrated by strangers; for example salespeople (Straka & Montminy 2006). However, in Australia abuse or fraud perpetrated by strangers is not usually included in definitions of elder abuse. In Australia, the majority of abusers of older people (80-90 per cent) have been found to be close family members (Kurrle 2004, p.809). Several studies have found economic abuse to be the most common form of reported or suspected elder abuse in family relationships, with the older person’s adult son or daughter most likely to be the abuser (Bagshaw, Wendt and Zannettino 2007). Seniors Rights Victoria (2012, p. 5) report that, among older people approaching their service for information and support relating to abuse, financial abuse is the most common form and it “most commonly manifests as financial loss arising from the disposal of an older person’s assets in exchange for their future care and accommodation, often under pressure from another party”. The complex social and legal contexts of elder abuse require additional considerations that are beyond the scope of this paper. These include that abuse often occurs where an elderly person is vulnerable due to guardianship or power of attorney arrangements, which may be ‘vehicles for financial elder abuse’ (Productivity Commission 2011, p. 454). Economic abuse, labour exploitation, trafficking and forced labour The boundaries between economic abuse and other forms of violence and exploitation can be blurred. While there is very limited evidence that other forms of abuse and exploitation are common in Australia they may be experienced by some women and there are groups who are vulnerable to such abuse and exploitation. The most common form may be labour exploitation, involving employment with pay and conditions that are beneath minimum regulated standards (Nelms, Nicholson & Wheatley 2011). Women and younger men such as students and others on temporary visas may be particularly vulnerable to labour exploitation (Burn et al. 2012). A situation of forced labour exists where a person cannot leave the work because of threats or force (Burn et al. 2012) and some situations of forced labour may constitute slavery (Cullen & McSherry 2009). A separate problem is where women are trafficked to Australia for the purpose of placing them in exploitative or abusive situations such as into forced prostitution. While the overlaps between economic abuse and these other forms of abuse and exploitation are recognised, this paper does not include an examination of this broader literature. Where labour exploitation occurs within family and intimate partner relationships, for example where an abusive partner coerces a woman to work in a family enterprise without any benefit to the woman, this is within the definition of economic abuse used in this paper. Elsewhere this type of situation could be termed ‘servile marriage’. Servile marriage is 11
Page 2 and 3: Spotlight on Econo
Page 4 and 5: Contents List of Abbreviations ....
Page 6 and 7: Executive Summary This literature r
Page 8 and 9: legal matters migration matters hea
Page 10 and 11: There is a need for greater support
Page 12 and 13: Overview This paper is organised as
Page 14 and 15: The DV Vic definition informs the u
Page 16 and 17: Case Study: Maria Maria’s husband
Page 18 and 19: Some ‘typical scenarios’ of eco
Page 22 and 23: also outside the scope of this pape
Page 24 and 25: Influences, Impacts and Points of I
Page 26 and 27: Particular vulnerabilities to econo
Page 28 and 29: Exploring the impacts of economic a
Page 30 and 31: Impacts relating to child support.
Page 32 and 33: Compared with 1995, people were mor
Page 34 and 35: Public Policies and Practices There
Page 36 and 37: the legal frameworks affecting dome
Page 38 and 39: In addition to family violence poli
Page 40 and 41: Centrelink may seek to recover paym
Page 42 and 43: Services staff providing customer s
Page 44 and 45: perpetrators to be excluded from th
Page 46 and 47: purpose is to “build the capacity
Page 48 and 49: financial literacy strategy. Howeve
Page 50 and 51: or in any other way controls or dom
Page 52 and 53: In its recent review the ALRC ident
Page 54 and 55: and for the creation of a new tempo
Page 56 and 57: equiring assistance or consideratio
Page 58 and 59: establish if there is a need for re
Page 60 and 61: considered by community sector grou
Page 62 and 63: Community Services Policies and Pra
Page 64 and 65: Financial counselling services are
Page 66 and 67: Conclusion: Community services resp
Page 68 and 69: —— 2011, Forms of employment, A
Page 70 and 71:
Chappell, D & Di Martino, V 2000, V
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se.unsw.edu.au/Conference%20papers/
Page 74 and 75:
Northern Territory Government 2008,
Page 76 and 77:
VicHealth—see Victorian Health Pr
Page 78 and 79:
ALRC (2011c) recommendations for ch
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