Women's Economic Abuse Advocacy

We Empower Women to Acheive Financial and Emotional Independence

Understanding Economic Abuse

Economic Abuse is a common form of violence against women statistically defined as ‘any act or behaviour which causes economic harm to an individual’. Perpetrators of economic abuse control the victim’s ability to ‘acquire, use, and maintain economic resources, threatening their economic security and potential for self-sufficiency’.

Economic abuse is a form of Gender-Based Violence, and often co-occurs with other forms of violence (physical, psychological, and sexual), coercing and controlling behaviors.

*Source: European Institute for Gender Equality. (n.d.). Economic violence, 2023.

Why Speaking Out Matters

Many women do not even realize they are experiencing economic abuse. This is the case with many women we work with:

Economic Abuse can start with behavior that seems caring or protective, such as offering to take care of finances which then subtly shifts into other controlling behaviors.
Economic abuse is often overlooked in comparison to other types of abuse, such as physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. And therefore, it can be challenging to unravel.
Economic Abuse and it’s effects can continue after a relationship ends.

We have worked with 1000s of women who feel controlled, trapped or exploited, through Economic Abuse and it makes it even harder for them to leave the abuser.

At XtraOrdinary Women, our mission extends beyond direct program provision.

We know that raising awareness, and our voices, about economic abuse is just as important in order to effectively support women to be able to move away from situations of violence and abuse. Economic abuse often thrives in secrecy, leaving women feeling isolated and ashamed. By speaking out and openly discussing this issue, we aim to challenge the societal norms that allow it to flourish. Increased awareness empowers women to recognize the signs of abuse and seek support.

By raising public awareness we can advocate for stronger legal protections and support systems for women experiencing economic abuse. Advocacy and awareness are essential components of our work, alongside our direct service programs that provide women with the skills and resources they need to become financially independent. By raising your voice, together with ours, you can help create a more just and equitable society where all women are free from violence and able to build the future they want.

OUR WORK EMPOWERING WOMEN

Forms of Gender-based Violence

Economic Abuse

Sexual Violence (Forced Marriage + Female Genital)

Physical and Verbal Violence

Emotional and Psychological Abuse

Harassment and sexual harassment

Domestic violence

Financial Abuse Knows No Borders

1 in 3

women globally have experienced economic abuse in their lifetime

50

of women who experience economic abuse reported difficulty in regaining their financial independence after leaving their abuser

95

of women who experienced economic abuse struggle to achieve financial stability, leading to reliance on abusive partners, perpetuating their economic dependence

99

of women who experience physical violence also experience economic abuse

How Does Economic

Abuse Affect Women?

Economic abuse doesn’t happen in isolation. It is deeply rooted in societal and systemic issues that fuel it.

Economic abuse is little understood or recognized as a form of violence, yet it is often one of the more persistent forms of gender-based violence. Although women report experiencing economic abuse less frequently than physical, sexual, and psychological violence, economic abuse had the highest rate of occurrence.

What Economic Abuse looks like in everyday life...

It’s not just about money—it’s about power and control

Economic Control

Restricting access to money, necessities, financial assets, and information.
Controlling the amount of money you can spend or tracking their use.
Preventing someone from opening a bank account in their name or from making financial decisions.

Economic Explotation

Opening a line of credit in their partners’ name without consent, and or building up debt under their name.
Stealing or damaging a victim’s property or resources or selling them without permission.
Taking wages, pensions, or other forms of financial aid from a victim without permission.

Economic Sabotage

Preventing a victim from attending employment and educational activities or sabotaging items needed to fulfill such activities.
Interfering with a victim’s work or education.
Refusing to contribute towards childcare responsibilities.

WE AIM TO BREAK THAT CYCLE

We run 2 programs, Job Skills Training and Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs, for marginalised women between the ages of 18-55. Our courses are built taking into consideration the evolving and debilitating socio-economic challenges of the communities we work in. In addition, our courses are delivered by local women who have first-hand experiences of these challenges.

Over 2,500 women have graduated from our programs

lifting more than 13,000 mothers, sisters and daughters out of cycles of extreme poverty and violence. Our model has been effective and sustainable for 16+ years. We have the expertise and a proven portfolio of programs to assist women, survivors of gender based violence, with low educational levels and work skills with tailor made, needs based, training and support to achieve financial independence.

OUR PROGRAMS

Their current struggle

Women living in cycles of poverty and abuse + without access to secure job opportunities

Our solution

job skills programs + psychological support to break the perpetuating cycle

The results

Financial and emotional independence

13,000

family members lifted out of poverty

We provide them with our cost-free programs and resources: Job Skills Training, Entrepreneurship Bootcamps, mentoring, and tailored learning materials to equip them with knowledge, confidence, support and income-generating skills.

Our programs aim to equip women, who have had little or no formal education or work expereince, with the basic, vital skills to start a small business of find a job. Most of all to understand her situation, and gain the confidence to flip her odds.

The topics include life-planning, visualising goals, understanding home and personal finances, budgeting, psycho-social support, self-esteem, communication, conflict resolution, how to budget (at home), and more. Our 3 pronged teaching approach (groups, online, and one-to-one) results in high retention rates and offers realistic goals.

They receive psychosocial support, personalised life coaching and we connect them to supportive communities

They receive personalized support during and after taking part in a program. This includes their families receiving mentoring to ease the transition of her starting to work. The psychologist and coordinator do home visits, get to know the families, to understand the relationships and any socio-economic barriers they experience to help them overcome and work with them.

Later on, we connect them with local employment opportunities, to get a stable job, or grow a small home based business

Success rate is still 95%; upon graduating our programs. They get a stable job, or run a small home based business, and become financially independent.

Janixa

was the victim of a machete attack by her partner.

Abandoned as a baby, Janixa grew up in an orphanage in Ciudad Sandino, Managua.

She didn't finish elementary school. Age 16 she escaped to La Chureca, a community living on the municipal trash dump, and began a cycle of extreme poverty, leading her into a world of drugs and prostitution. To escape this situation, she entered into a violent and controlling relationship, then, in 2017 Janixa enrolled with XtraOrdinary Women.

It was common for her to arrive in tears, a victim of violence. On the day of her graduation from the program, she was the victim of machete blows to the head and arms, inflicted by her partner and father of her baby, with whom she had a toxic relationship for three years.

While in the course, she began to question the custom of receiving and following her orders. Janixa is now a single mother, and has a stable job, for more than two years, with our partner Serviplus. She wanted to be the best mother for her baby, the mother she never had. We helped Janixa break her cycle of poverty and flip her odds.

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Maricela

felt the sharp edge of a knife on her neck at the hands of her partner.

One night in 2015, Maricela felt the sharp edge of a knife on her neck at the hands of her partner. For six years, she was subjected to physical and psychological abuse. Abuse was routine in her life, to the point that her second baby was conceived by rape.

She had grown up under the violence of her parents, with no opportunity for education, no chance for self-fulfillment. Fleeing from this situation, she found a worse one. Her partner did not let her study or work. He watched her when she went out. Maricela sought a spot on the XtraOrdinary Women program.

She received personalized psychosocial support, job training, and financial support from her scholarship.

For the first time, she realized that her life did not have to be this way. That night in 2015, her partner put a knife to her neck, then to her oldest son, and threw her baby against a fan. That violent night, Maricela gathered her courage and decided to break the cycle of violence. Despite the threats, she sought protection and broke up with her partner.

She decided to change her life. She completed our program, we placed her in her first job. With her financial independence, Maricela provides for her children, and for herself.