In the landscape of modern family life, where emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing are frequently discussed, one form of abuse remains less visible but deeply damaging: economic violence. Often overlooked, economic violence refers to controlling a person’s access to financial resources, thereby limiting their autonomy, independence, and ability to provide for themselves and their children. When this form of abuse intersects with parenthood, it creates a web of vulnerability that not only traps individuals in harmful relationships but also affects the development, safety, and well-being of children.
What is Economic Violence?
Economic violence, sometimes referred to as financial abuse, is a form of domestic abuse where one partner exerts control over the other through manipulation or restriction of financial resources. Examples of economic violence include preventing a partner from working, controlling all household finances, withholding money for basic needs, forcing someone to account for every expense, taking out loans in their name without consent, sabotaging job opportunities, and threatening to stop child support to maintain control and dependency. Unlike physical violence, economic abuse can be subtle and prolonged, often going unnoticed by others and even by the victims themselves. It is about power and control, using money as the primary weapon.
Case study: Serbia
Recently, one of the partner organizations in this project, the Center for Moms, conducted a survey on economic violence in Serbia titled “Financial Independence of Mothers in Serbia: The Right to Their Own Money,” completed by nearly two and a half thousand women. Although our countries have different cultures, they are not so different when it comes to this topic, so we are sharing results from Serbia as a case study, believing they would be similar in other project countries too. We also believe that both the findings and recommendations would likely apply to other countries and partners in the project.
In Serbia, every 10th mother (10.5%) has a partner who restricts her access to money, while 14.2% of partners/husbands believe they have the right to decide how much money their wives “need.” Additionally, more than a quarter of mothers (26.4%) have to justify to their partners how they spent money. Every fifth mother in Serbia (20.4%) is not allowed by her partner to buy what she wants, and 5.2% were forced, against their will, to borrow money or sell valuables at their partner’s request. While 26% of mothers are dissatisfied with how money is managed in their household, as many as 29.4% have no control over family finances. Particularly alarming is that 17% of mothers do not feel financially safe alongside their partners.
In our society, economic violence as a form of gender-based violence is rarely discussed, even though it poses a serious threat to mothers’ economic security and independence. Some forms of this violence have been present in our society for so long that they have become normalized in intimate partnerships, which is deeply concerning. The survey showed that a third of mothers have lower incomes since becoming mothers compared to before having children. As the birth of a child often creates new family dynamics, it is crucial that mothers are financially stable at that moment.
A pattern of controlling behavior towards women—including telling them how much and how to spend, controlling finances, and making them justify their spending—was analyzed in a subgroup of mothers who reported being exposed to such behavior. This pattern was consistently and significantly associated with the woman’s education level, employment status, and number of children, and it was the same across all regions of Serbia. The survey found that when a woman is employed full-time, decisions about money earned by both partners are significantly more often made jointly. This is much less common in families where the woman works part-time or is unemployed. Women who live in urban areas and have higher education levels tend to manage or co-manage the money they have earned more independently. It is also evident that the higher the education level of both partners, the more equally they make both small and large spending decisions. This confirms once again that education is a protective social factor for mothers.
The survey showed that mothers who raise children alone or mostly alone are in a particularly vulnerable position. Data indicate that when there are children involved, economic violence can last much longer than the marriage itself. Nearly half of fathers (44.5%) do not pay child support. Of those who do, many (46.2%) either do not pay regularly or have even reduced their income to lower the amount set by the court. Although the Republic of Serbia has set a legally defined minimum child support amount, adjusted according to increases in benefits for minor dependents, as many as 91.3% of fathers in Serbia do not comply. The fathers’ attitude towards child support is statistically linked to the time they spend with their children, according to the study. Fathers who fail to fulfill their financial obligations—or who do so irregularly and fail to adjust for inflation—spend less time with their children. As a result, 25.8% of fathers in Serbia do not see their children at all, and 37.8% spend less than a quarter of their personal time with them.
Mothers’ satisfaction with the distribution of money in the family affects them directly, including how they think about having more children. Every fourth mother said it influences her decision about future childbirth. Since birth rates are always a topic of public interest, we want to highlight that it is important for all of us to build a society where the statistics identified by this research improve and become more equitable. To achieve this, we can start by advocating for better conditions for women to complete formal education even after becoming mothers; by ensuring greater respect for mothers’ labor rights and consistent penalties for those who violate them; by encouraging employers to use tax incentives to support mothers returning from maternity leave, reducing the risk that they will be dismissed; by ensuring that mothers do not receive lower salaries during maternity leave compared to before; by increasing the number of kindergartens and opening spots for children of unemployed mothers so they have the opportunity to find work; and by establishing a state child support fund that mothers can rely on if their former partners fail to pay.
Economic violence is a silent but devastating force in the lives of many parents. It undermines their autonomy, compromises the safety and development of their children, and traps families in cycles of dependency and abuse. Recognizing economic violence as a serious, gendered, and systemic issue is essential for crafting meaningful policy, legal, and community responses. Ending this form of abuse requires a collective effort—from governments and legal systems to schools, healthcare providers, and society at large—to ensure that no parent is forced to choose between survival and safety, and no child is raised under the shadow of silent control.
Author: Jovana Ružičić