Financial Abuse

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 18 December 2019.

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Photo of James Dornan James Dornan Scottish National Party

I could not agree more with my colleague. That situation just highlights the problems that we have when dealing with organisations and agencies. In many cases, they are looking to stick to the rules, or are looking for the easy way out to get the money.

Women have said:

“He ran up Council Tax arrears when he was in control of the finances and the council have now allocated the whole amount to me, as it is my address”.

“Income Support Loans which were taken by him but tied to both insurance numbers in a joint claim have now been allocated to me. DWP have allocated it all to me because it was a joint claim. They have transferred all the loan to me as he is no longer on benefits”.

Court systems are used to further the abuse:

“He refused to sign the paperwork for 1 year. He deliberately did this knowing I would be stuck in limbo and that this was putting me under financial pressure”.

Another man signed up to a trust deed for £30,000 but does not pay for it; it is in the woman’s name.

I could go on and on, but I shall finish with a case study that encompasses many of the issues that women face when they are trying to overcome coercive control.

Sarah was married outside the UK to a British husband. He decided to go back to the UK, do her visa paperwork and call her to the UK, where they would settle and raise a family. She had a new baby when her visa came through, but the visa was for her only. The perpetrator convinced her to come over and leave the new baby with her mum for a few weeks until her daughter’s paperwork was completed, as otherwise her visa would expire. Sarah’s husband separated her from her child for four years. She had no money to fly back home and get her daughter or to pay to apply to bring her daughter to the UK.

Once her daughter was in the UK, she was given no money to buy toys or clothes for her child. For five years she had the same clothes that she came into the UK with, and she was given no money for winter jackets or appropriate clothing to deal with Scottish weather. Sarah had never seen Glasgow city centre because she was always kept in the house and had no money to travel. She had never gone to dinner or to the cinema and was not allowed to shop alone at any supermarkets. She had no bank account and all the child benefit was paid to her husband.

Unfortunately for Sarah, when social workers got involved in her case due to issues around care of her child, they did not see any of the coercive control or financial abuse that she was suffering. She was seen as an unfit mum for not providing adequately for her child.

There were warning signs. Why did Sarah not have a bank account? She did not know the way to her child’s school, which was a clear sign of severe isolation. She often had no jacket, or had summer shoes on in winter, when she went to social work meetings. Why did she take four years to bring her child to the UK? Again, no financial abuse was detected, and she was classed as an unfit and uncaring mother.

The powerful words of the women—many of whom I know and am close to—show that despite on-going good work by the Scottish Government and the prosecutorial services, there is much, much more to be done.

For the sake of those women and many more, it is time that society recognised just how damaging financial coercive control can be for the brave women and children who are innocent victims of uncaring men.