Understanding Economic Abuse Tactics: Sabotage, Exploitation, and Control

November is National Economic Abuse Awareness and Advocacy Month

As part of the “Help Us Rise” campaign, this month, we’re shedding light on how economic abuse can deeply impact lives, starting with a foundational understanding of economic abuse tactics. Week 1 focuses on building general awareness about economic abuse—a less visible yet profoundly damaging form of control. 

What is Economic Abuse?
Economic abuse involves behaviors aimed at controlling a person’s ability to acquire, use, and maintain financial resources, thereby undermining their economic security and ability to be self-sufficient. As Adams et al. (2008) define it, economic abuse encompasses actions that compromise an individual’s financial independence and stability.

It’s essential to recognize that economic abuse disproportionately affects marginalized groups, including Indigenous people, Black people, people of color, individuals with disabilities, and those with precarious immigration status. For these individuals, economic abuse is often compounded by systemic economic oppression, making them even more vulnerable to abusive tactics.

Here, we break down three common forms of economic abuse: Economic Control, Economic Exploitation, and Economic Sabotage—each with its own set of tactics designed to manipulate and destabilize victims.

1. Economic Control: Restricting Access and Power Over Resources

Economic control is one of the most common and insidious forms of economic abuse. It involves tactics aimed at limiting a person’s access to or decision-making power over financial resources, thereby creating dependency.

Examples of economic control include:

• Withholding or limiting access to funds: Refusing access to personal or shared bank accounts, only providing minimal allowances, or enforcing strict, monitored budgets.
• Misrepresenting expenses: Lying about financial obligations or inflating expenses to manipulate and create confusion.
• Denying funds for basic needs: Restricting money for essential items such as food, healthcare, or childcare.
• Language barriers as control: Refusing to interpret important financial documents, contracts, or tax paperwork into the victim’s native language, further complicating financial decisions.

Through these actions, the abuser places themselves in total control, creating a situation where the victim must rely on them for basic financial needs, which can erode their sense of independence.

2. Economic Exploitation: Forcing Financial Harm or Decision-Making

Economic exploitation involves actively and intentionally damaging a person’s financial stability, often by co-opting their finances for the abuser’s gain. This can lead to credit ruin, asset depletion, or coerced financial decision-making.

Examples of economic exploitation include:

• Asset liquidation: Forcing the victim to sell valuable items or assets, such as a home, car, or other possessions, against their will.
• Unapproved spending: Spending large amounts of jointly-held money without the victim’s consent, often leaving them financially depleted.
• Debt entrapment: Coercing or manipulating the victim into taking on loans or bills solely in their name, which places the financial burden and potential debt entirely on them.
• Destruction of valuable assets: Damaging or neglecting essential items, such as a car or a shared home, to create further financial strain.

Economic exploitation leaves the victim with significant debt, damaged credit, and potentially few assets, making it even harder for them to regain economic independence.

3. Economic Sabotage: Disrupting Employment and Professional Growth

Economic sabotage is aimed at obstructing the victim’s ability to secure, maintain, or succeed in employment. It often involves workplace-related disruptions that can sabotage career growth and independence.

Examples of economic sabotage include:

• Creating hostile work conditions: If the abuser works with their partner, they may create a hostile environment, undermining the victim’s comfort and productivity.
• Withholding legal or professional documents: Hiding or refusing access to documents necessary for employment, such as proof of immigration status or gender-affirming identification, making it harder to secure or retain a job.
• Physical and digital stalking: Preventing the victim from attending work, stalking them at their place of employment, or creating disruptions that interfere with their ability to perform their job.
• Professional sabotage: Damaging the victim’s professional reputation through rumors, public confrontations, or other harmful behaviors, which can impact career progression.

By damaging the victim’s ability to work, the abuser intensifies financial dependency, making it more difficult for the victim to break free from the abusive relationship.

By Niko Coady

Niko Coady (she/elle) is an intersectional feminist and current Master’s student at McGill University. Growing up in Prince Edward Island, attending the University of New Brunswick, and now living in Montreal, Niko has worked in gender-based and sexual violence prevention in a variety of contexts and communities. She has worked in post-secondary institutions, transition houses, second-stage housing, and in family violence research. Her experiences creating sexual violence prevention educational tools, developing trauma-informed reporting policies, and working with a variety of survivors have given her the unique perspective she brings to her work and writing. Niko hopes to empower survivors, encourage understanding, continue to learn, and demonstrate compassion through all of her projects.