Imagine you're in an abusive relationship and you desperately want to leave. But your husband controls the family finances, and he doles out only a small amount of cash for necessities each week. You lost your last job because he kept harassing you at work, calling repeatedly and showing up without warning. Now, you're struggling to find new employment. In the meantime, your kids are hungry and you have literally nowhere to go. The idea of leaving is so far out of reach.
We often think of domestic violence in terms of physical abuse, the most visible and easily understood form. A black eye isn't ambiguous. But experts agree that economic abuse, where one partner controls the other's access to finances, plays a pivotal role in trapping women in abusive relationships.
In her new book, author Ludy Green argues that economic abuse is the core reason why women don't leave abusive partners. "Depriving the victim of control over her own economic well-being is a despotic and confining element of domestic violence," she writes in Ending Domestic Violence Captivity: A Guide to Economic Freedom. "Why does she stay? Despite appearances to the contrary, the decision to stay is not a decision at all. She stays because she lacks the power to leave."
[For more of this story, written by Melissa Jeltsen, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...lence_n_6022320.html]
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