What you need to know about women's economic abuse
Economic abuse cuts across cultural, age and socio-economic boundaries. But Australia still has a long way to go in understanding the complexity and depth of the problem, particularly for women.
A panel of experts delivered an online masterclass today to Management Education students at the University of Sydney Business School about the issue.
Both Rebecca Glenn (Founder of the ) and Bianca Hartge-Hazelman (CEO of ) agree that Australia is only just starting to comprehend how economic abuse impacts women, their families and society.
鈥淚t can be highly individual. There鈥檚 going to be multiple considerations that impact people differently, for example, someone who鈥檚 welfare dependent is going to have a very different experience to someone who has permanent work with a big employer,鈥� explained Ms Glenn.
鈥淏ut it happens in all populations, it can happen to anyone.鈥�
Economic abuse is a form of intimate partner and family violence that involves controlling a person鈥檚 access and ability to acquire, use or maintain economic resources. This puts a person鈥檚 economic safety at risk, which is essential to wellbeing.
I was getting really frustrated and nothing was really changing. I wanted to do more to change my daughters鈥� futures.
Pinpointing early warning signs and seeing the spectrum on which this can happen is difficult.
One of the most accurate depictions in popular culture recently is seen in Netflix鈥檚 Maid, as it follows 28-year-old Alex who leaves an abusive relationship to protect her young daughter.
鈥淚f you want to understand the multiple intersecting ways that economic safety is undermined first by an abusive partner and then by structural barriers and system failures, it is brilliant,鈥� said Ms Glenn.
鈥淲hile the welfare network in the US differs to Australia鈥檚, it shows the undignified way systems place the burden for experiencing violence and abuse on victims rather than perpetrators, and fail to adequately support people to start again when they leave an abusive partner.鈥澛�
We won鈥檛 move the dial until we stop seeing childcare as a luxury.
The lifetime prevalence of economic abuse of women is almost double that of men, according to analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data ; 15.7 percent of women in all age groups compared to men.
鈥淭he long-term consequences of economic abuse can be severe, whether it鈥檚 dwindling retirement savings or overall confidence,鈥� Bianca Hartge-Hazelman said.
鈥淭his can become a cycle of fear and repetition. You can take the first step out of an abusive relationship, only to be too fearful to take the next one and end up where you started or worse.鈥�
After a long career as a financial journalist, Ms Hartge-Hazelman became concerned seeing the slow rate of change in data like the gender pay gap.
鈥淚 was getting really frustrated and nothing was really changing. I wanted to do more to change my daughters鈥� futures,鈥� she said.
She founded Financy six years ago and launched the . Released quarterly, it measures and tracks financial progress and economic equality.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing that the pace of change is slowing, and the timeframes are volatile. As it stands, the timeframe to achieving equality in unpaid work is 101 years.
鈥淲e need a greater amount of focus and awareness-raising of how issues like the gender pay gap and socio-economic disadvantage can deepen economic insecurity,鈥� Ms Hartge-Hazelman said.
Similarly, Ms Glenn said the path to guaranteed economic safety has to start with structural changes.
鈥淲e won鈥檛 move the dial until we stop seeing childcare as a luxury. After all, it鈥檚 good for society, it鈥檚 good for women and it鈥檚 good for the economy. Universal access to early childhood education is essential for women鈥檚 economic security,鈥� she explained.
鈥淲omen who are trying to rebuild and escape an abusive relationship 鈥� including economic abuse - need support. Yet there鈥檚 no mention of 鈥榚conomic abuse鈥� in the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Children. This has to change.鈥�