"Supriya Singh tells the stories of 12 Anglo-Celtic and Indian women in Australia who survived economic abuse. She describing describes the lived experience of coercive control underlying economic abuse across cultures. Each story shows how the woman was entrapped and lost her freedom because her husband denied her money, appropriated her assets and sabotaged her ability to be in paid work. These stories are about silence, shame and embarrassment that this could happen despite professional and graduate education. Some of the women were the main earners in their household. Women spoke of being afraid, of trying to leave, of losing their sense of self. Many suffered physical and mental ill-health, not knowing what would trigger the violence. Some attempted suicide. Most did not recognise they were suffering economic abuse and that this was family violence. Each The stories also show that story is also different as money as a medium of care becomes a medium of abuse when used without morality. Economic abuse does not rest with a particular cultural practice. It happens across cultures. economic abuse is shaped by the way women and men own, manage and control money in various cultures. The women's stories learnt the importance of talking about money and relationships with future partners, across life stages and with their sons and daughters. They saw this as an essential step for preventing and lessening economic abuse. studying economic abuse in the cultural context of the gender and morality of money. Economic abuse gets shaped by the way women and men manage, use, control and think about money. They also show the importance of sociologists of money going further than studying management and control through decision making. A vital read for scholars of domestic abuse and family violence, that will also be valuable for sociologists of money"--

Drawing on cases, Stark identifies the problems with our current approach to domestic violence, outlines the components of coercive control, and then uses this alternate framework to analyse the cases of battered women charged with criminal offenses directed at their abusers.

Decriminalizing Domestic Violence asks the crucial, yet often overlooked, question of why and how the criminal legal system became the primary response to intimate partner violence in the United States. It introduces readers, both new and well versed in the subject, to the ways in which the criminal legal system harms rather than helps those who are subjected to abuse and violence in their homes and communities, and shares how it drives, rather than deters, intimate partner violence. The book examines how social, legal, and financial resources are diverted into a criminal legal apparatus that is often unable to deliver justice or safety to victims or to prevent intimate partner violence in the first place. Envisioned for both courses and research topics in domestic violence, family violence, gender and law, and sociology of law, the book challenges readers to understand intimate partner violence not solely, or even primarily, as a criminal law concern but as an economic, public health, community, and human rights problem. It also argues that only by viewing intimate partner violence through these lenses can we develop a balanced policy agenda for addressing it. At a moment when we are examining our national addiction to punishment, Decriminalizing Domestic Violence offers a thoughtful, pragmatic roadmap to real reform.

Supriya Singh tells the stories of 12 Anglo-Celtic and Indian women in Australia who survived economic abuse. She describes the lived experience of coercive control underlying economic abuse across cultures. Each story shows how the woman was trapped and lost her freedom because her husband denied her money, appropriated her assets and sabotaged her ability to be in paid work. These stories are about silence, shame and embarrassment that this could happen despite professional and graduate education. Some of the women were the main earners in their household. Women spoke of being afraid, of trying to leave, of losing their sense of self. Many suffered physical and mental ill-health, not knowing what would trigger the violence. Some attempted suicide. None of the women fully realised they were suffering family violence through economic abuse, whilst it was happening to them. The stories of Anglo-Celtic and Indian women show economic abuse is not associated with a specific system of money management and control. It is when the morality of money is betrayed that control becomes coercive. Money as a medium of care then becomes a medium of abuse. The women’s stories demonstrate the importance of talking about money and relationships with future partners, across life stages and with their sons and daughters. The women saw this as an essential step for preventing and lessening economic abuse. A vital read for scholars of domestic abuse and family violence that will also be valuable for sociologists of money.

With Exposing Financial Abuse: When Money Is a Weapon, you will be given the opportunity to pull the curtain back and see into the lives of those who have been financially harmed by someone close to them. Being able to take a closer look at this hidden world is a unique gift that cannot be taken lightly or without honor for those who have chosen to allow us to peek into the most personal aspects of their lives. Test yourself. How would you describe financial abuse? It is quietly happening all around us and is hidden within our neighborhoods and communities. You probably know someone who lives within a financially abusive household, and you don't even know it. What is financial abuse? Has your spouse or parent taken out lines of credit in your name without your consent? Does your ex-spouse suddenly stop paying child support as a means of furthering their abuse and control over your life? Has your partner moved money from your joint account to a secret individual account without your prior knowledge or consent? Do your parents use financial gifts as an open door to demand future compliance on your part? Are you blamed for creating financial stress but are not the one who overspends? Did your ex-spouse hide his or her income from being included in the calculations for child and/or spousal support? Have your religious leaders said that you must give to the church first, even if that means you cannot provide for your household's basic needs? Do you carry the full burden of making enough money for your household because your partner refuses to maintain steady employment?

Despite being recognised by victim-survivors as a tactic used by abusers, economic abuse has received little attention in research, policy, or practice. This powerful book provides a crucial validation of the lived experience of victim-survivors, and highlights the urgent need to develop effective responses to economic abuse.