Prevalence of Economic Abuse in Alberta

Abstract

Introduction Intimate Partner Violence (“IPV”) is an umbrella term, capturing any form of abuse against a current or former intimate partner. A subset of IPV is financial abuse, also known as economic abuse in which abusers deliberately “interfere with their partner’s ability to acquire, use, and maintain economic resources” (Adams et al., 2008, p. 564). To date, most studies explore the phenomenon in the context of male violence against women. Economic abuse enables the male abuser to keep his victim from leaving the relationship and perpetuate other forms of IPV. Economic abuse is a widespread issue with multiple subsets, being economic control, sabotage, and exploitation. In this study, we seek to determine if economic abuse is a gendered issue.

Department:  International Business, Marketing, Strategy and Law

Faculty Mentor: Dr. McKay White