“What’s his is his and what’s mine is his”: Financial power and economic abuse in Aotearoa

Authors

  • Ang Jury National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges
  • Natalie Thorburn National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges
  • Ruth Weatherall Victoria University of Wellington

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol29iss2id312

Keywords:

Economic abuse, coercive control, violence, gender, women, domestic violence

Abstract

AIM: This study aimed to understand the experiences and effects of economic abuse for women in Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly in relation to methods of coercive control, with the intention of developing risk matrices to be used by practitioners.

METHODS: We conducted a survey with 448 respondents—with 398 the focus of analysis for this article. The survey contained a combination of scaling and open-ended questions.

FINDINGS: Abusers employed a range of abusive methods to restrict victims’ freedom and exercise domination. These abusive behaviours seemed to follow traditional hegemonic construction of masculinity as synonymous with “provider” in that many of these methods relied on the reproduction of gendered stereotypes which subjugate women to a subordinate position in the household. Women experienced a range of adverse emotional impacts as a result of this abuse.

Author Biographies

Ang Jury, National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges

Chief Executive

Natalie Thorburn, National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges

Policy Advisor

Ruth Weatherall, Victoria University of Wellington

PhD Candidate

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Published

2017-07-26

How to Cite

Jury, A., Thorburn, N., & Weatherall, R. (2017). “What’s his is his and what’s mine is his”: Financial power and economic abuse in Aotearoa. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 29(2), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol29iss2id312

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 2 (2017): Special issue

Section

Original Articles

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