At the Blenda women's shelter in Växjö you often meet women who have been exposed to economic violence.
- Often when the woman comes to us she is not aware that you may be exposed to financial violence or how widespread it is. You do not have that insight into the economy because it is a part that the man has taken over and controls, says Caroline Coucher, operations manager at the women's newspaper.
It is not uncommon for women who are subjected to psychological, physical or sexual violence by a relative to be exposed to economic violence at the same time, which can be expressed in several ways.
Takes sms loan in the woman's name
- It is very common, for example, to take SMS loans in the woman's name without the woman knowing about it. It can even be that you stand as a company signer as a woman and the man goes bankrupt, says Caroline Coucher.
The women's newspaper, which has been around for almost 40 years, feels that the problem of economic violence has increased with digital development.
Risks of digitization
Marie Eriksson, associate professor of social work at Linnaeus University, agrees. In a research project, she has interviewed 19 women about financial vulnerability in connection with men's violence against women.
- In times of digitalisation, men's ability to exercise financial control, oppression and violence over women in close relationships increases. It can be more difficult to trace and know who it really is who has signed this and under what circumstances it has been signed, says Marie Eriksson.
"Knowledge must increase"Both Marie Eriksson and Caroline Coucher say that knowledge of economic violence must increase in society and that much is about how the vulnerable women are treated.
- There, of course, all the agencies have a huge responsibility. Not to be ashamed of the woman, for example when seeking financial assistance or going to the bank. I don't think you are aware of how bad it really is and that this is actually a form of violence, says Caroline Coucher.