Economic abuse is just as prevalent as other types of domestic abuse, expert says
BNZ spotted 12,000 abusive online banking transactions in a span of just six months last year, including people being saddled with someone else’s debt, or having no control over their finances.
No official figures exist about how widespread economic abuse is in New Zealand, but experts believe that the issue is just as prevalent as other types of domestic abuse.
In one case, Emma (not her real name) ended up with thousands of dollars of debt, which she is still paying back, because of her former partner, Steven (also not his real name).
Sometime after the couple split up, Steven slipped back into drug and alcohol abuse, lost a number of jobs, and totalled three cars. And because Steven didn’t have any money, Emma was coerced into paying up.
“There wasn't a choice in the matter for me, so I got the loans out on his behalf to pay the mechanics and the car companies,” Emma told RNZ.
Martin King, BNZ general manager of customer assist, said Emma was not the only victim of economic abuse.
“We have had people who have been coerced quite strongly and we've also heard of threats to their family, to pets, to children, if they didn't take the debt,” he said.
King said economic abuse could take many forms and that the bank was keeping a close eye on online banking transactions.
“We've had one particular case where an individual was sent some not-particularly-nice words every day attached to a one-cent payment for four years – every day, on their bank account, they received money from their ex-partner,” King told RNZ.
In response to such cases, the bank has helped victims open new accounts, but can also take action against perpetrators.
Holly Carrington, from the domestic abuse organisation Shine, said economic abuse, which has been added to the legal definition of family violence, is “almost always part of a larger pattern of behaviour where one person is controlling someone else.”
With about one in three women experiencing physical or sexual harm at the hand of an intimate or ex-partner, Carrington said she expects “that the economic harm numbers to be along similar lines, probably every bit as common, if not more.”
There is research underway at the moment to better understand the impact of economic abuse in New Zealand, RNZ reported.
