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

Impacts relating to child support. Adequacy of child support payments is a concern
for some women. Avoidance of child support payments by abusive partners
continues economic abuse while also contributing to poor financial outcomes (Corrie
2011). Women may also choose not to pursue child support or receive less than child
support than they should to avoid further violence (Patrick, Cook & McKenzie 2008;
Patrick, Cook & Taket 2007).
Impacts relating to legal matters. Legal costs may relate to protection orders, family
law matters involving children and property settlements, wills, victim compensation,
bankruptcy and legal action relating to jointly owned business. Costs include legal
fees, lost work days, child care and costs of court-appointed specialists (see also
Lyons 2000). For the women in Braaf and Barrett Meyering’s (2011) study, legal
issues were “pivotal” to women’s financial outcomes with positive legal actions also
bringing intangible benefits relating to the acknowledgement of women’s experiences
and making ex-partners accountable for behaviour. On the downside, legal
processes could cause stress and hardship. Another extremely serious impact
relating to legal matters is the possibility of women’s criminalisation through
economic abuse. For example, economic abuse may involve coercion by a partner to
defraud Centrelink or a woman destitute as a result of economic abuse may commit
a criminal offence to survive (ALRC/NSWLRC 2010; Gilfus 2002).
Impacts relating to migration matters. Women who are migrants to Australia on
spousal visas may have no or extremely limited access to income support payments
or ability to enter paid work if they leave an abusive partner (Pham 2011).
Impacts relating to health In addition to any health impacts resulting from the
experience of violence, economic abuse may affect physical and psychological
health through poverty and low income and the stress associated with this.
These impacts are likely to interact with a whole range of other impacts where economic
abuse occurs as one of several forms of violence. Economic impacts on women are also
likely to be impacts on their children and women who seek assistance for family violence are
often mothers with children. For example, in Victoria in 2010-2011, more than half of the
women seeking assistance for family violence through a specialist family violence court had
children in their care (State of Victoria 2012b, p. 19).
There is a growing body of research concerning the ways in which family violence affects
children and recent reviews of the literature point to significant negative behavioural and
emotional impacts of intimate partner domestic violence on children (ADFVC 2011; Holt
Buckley & Whelan 2008). While some impacts of economic abuse are noted above there is
less information about how this form of abuse affects children. However, it is known that
domestic violence is a factor in youth homelessness—as shown in national homelessness
data collections (AIHW 2011)—and the National Youth Commission (2011) cites a
longitudinal study of homeless young people aged 12 to 20 years which found one third had
left home because of family violence.
As Braaf and Barrett Meyering (2011) point out, another consequence of economic abuse is
that it can be a means by which men continue to control their partners’ lives after separation.
Some debts may continue to accrue after separation and other debts may continue to arise
in the immediate period following separation such as mortgage repayments on joint
properties. As well as leaving abusive relationships with a poor credit rating and outstanding
debts, economic abuse may result in women being inexperienced and lacking confidence in
dealing with financial matters (Evans 2007; VonDeLinde & Correia 2005). Adams (2011, p.
20