"It's Not Abuse"... Or Is It? Why Economic Abuse Remains Hidden in Plain Sight
New research published by the Home Office and Surviving Economic Abuse has revealed a concerning gap in public understanding of economic abuse. According to the findings, almost one in five young men aged 18–24 do not consider controlling how a partner spends their money to be abusive behaviour. Younger men were also significantly more likely than older age groups to fail to recognise other forms of economic abuse, including controlling access to bank accounts and taking out credit in someone's name without their consent.
In response, the Government has partnered with major UK banks as part of the Enough campaign to raise awareness of economic abuse and challenge attitudes that normalise controlling behaviour within relationships. Participating banks will highlight key warning signs of economic abuse through customer communications and banking platforms.
While the findings may be surprising to some, they highlight an important safeguarding challenge.
Economic abuse is often hidden in plain sight.
What Is Economic Abuse?
Economic abuse is a recognised form of domestic abuse and is included within the statutory definition of domestic abuse under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. It involves behaviours that control a person's ability to acquire, use, or maintain money, financial resources, housing, employment, or other economic assets.
Examples can include:
Controlling how someone spends their money.
Restricting access to bank accounts.
Preventing someone from working or studying.
Running up debts in another person's name.
Monitoring spending or demanding receipts.
Using financial dependence to maintain control.
Misusing payment references or financial systems to harass a former partner.
Unlike physical abuse, economic abuse may leave no visible injuries.
However, its impact can be devastating.
Why Does This Matter?
One of the most concerning aspects of the research is not simply the statistic itself, but what it tells us about attitudes towards control within relationships.
If individuals do not recognise controlling financial behaviour as abuse, they are less likely to identify it in their own relationships, challenge it in others, or seek support when it occurs.
As safeguarding professionals, we know that abuse often begins with seemingly small acts of control.
Rarely does coercive and controlling behaviour start with extreme actions.
It often develops gradually.
A partner questioning spending habits. Monitoring purchases. Restricting access to money. Discouraging employment. Creating financial dependence.
Over time, these behaviours can become normalised.
Victims may not recognise the abuse because the control has been introduced slowly and incrementally.
Economic Abuse Is About Power and Control
One of the biggest misconceptions about economic abuse is that it is simply about money.
In reality, it is about power.
Money is often the tool being used, but the objective is control.
When someone controls another person's finances, employment, housing, or ability to access resources, they can significantly limit that person's independence and ability to leave a harmful situation.
For many victim-survivors, economic abuse continues long after a relationship ends through debt, damaged credit records, ongoing financial manipulation, or legal and financial disputes.
This is why economic abuse is increasingly recognised as a significant safeguarding concern.
A Safeguarding Issue, Not Just a Relationship Issue
Economic abuse can affect people of any age, background, gender, or profession.
For organisations, this means recognising that economic abuse may present in workplaces, educational settings, healthcare services, housing providers, charities, and community organisations.
Staff, volunteers, service users, students, and clients may all be affected.
Safeguarding professionals should consider:
Do staff understand what economic abuse looks like?
Are domestic abuse policies broad enough to include economic abuse?
Do safeguarding training programmes address coercive control?
Are professionals confident in recognising non-physical forms of abuse?
Do people know where to seek support?
The absence of physical violence should never be mistaken for the absence of harm.
Rachael's Reflection
What struck me most about this research was not the statistic itself.
It was the reminder that abuse is often normalised long before it is recognised.
In safeguarding, we regularly talk about physical abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence. Yet some of the most harmful behaviours are often the least visible.
Economic abuse does not always leave bruises.
It can leave someone isolated, dependent, trapped, and unable to access support.
The fact that a significant proportion of young men do not recognise these behaviours as abusive should concern all of us, not because it suggests young people are abusive, but because it highlights the need for better education around healthy relationships, boundaries, consent, and respect.
Safeguarding is not only about responding when harm occurs.
It is about challenging harmful attitudes before they become harmful behaviours.
If we want to prevent abuse, we need to ensure people understand what abuse actually looks like.
And sometimes, it looks like control rather than violence.
At RLB, we believe that raising awareness of hidden forms of abuse is an essential part of creating safer relationships, safer communities, and safer organisations.
Read more about Economic abuse here