Reframing Intimate Partner Violence as a Systemic Economic Issue Using Data [Data Con LA]
Guest article by Kirkley Doyle and Tannia Ventura, from their presentation at Data Con LA 2020
By now, you've probably seen the headlines about rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) rising during COVID-19.[1] Many survivors are trapped at home with harm-doers whose abuses are escalating, without access to crisis interventions like shelters and restraining orders.[2] But you likely don't know the economic context: the #1 barrier to safety for survivors is a lack of financial resources.
The reality is that it is incredibly expensive to experience IPV. The CDC estimates that experiencing IPV costs a cisgender female survivor an average of $104,000 across her lifetime (we don't even know the costs for trans or gender non-binary survivors).[3] Additionally, 99% of survivors also report experiencing economic abuse, which happens when a harm-doer controls a survivor's ability to acquire, use, and/or maintain financial or economic resources.[4] Harm-doers employ a range of tactics, including making a survivor ask for money or deciding how a survivor spends money, forcing a survivor to quit a job or disrupting their ability to go to work, and/or incurring debt in a survivor's name without their knowledge or consent.[5]
With 1 in 2 trans people and 1 in 4 cisgender women experiencing IPV during their lifetime, IPV is a structural economic issue with both economic causes and economic consequences.[6,7] While there are some existing data, we don't yet have a full picture of the prevalence or cost of economic abuse. We're hoping to change that.
FreeFrom is on a mission to dismantle the nexus between financial insecurity and surviving IPV. A key part of fulfilling this goal is collecting data that reflects the true experiences, needs, and challenges of survivors.
Our response to COVID-19: A Safety Fund for Survivors
At the start of COVID-19, when stay-at-home orders first went into effect, we were flooded with requests from IPV organizations and survivors asking for help. We were waiting for a larger, national agency to start a relief fund for survivors, but when that didn't happen, we decided to start our own. We knew survivors needed cash they could spend as they needed, and they needed it fast. Ultimately, we gave out 1,100, $250 grants to survivors in 36 states and Puerto Rico through our COVID-19 Safety Fund for Survivors.
We had two guiding principles when implementing the Safety Fund: 1) we would be inclusive of all survivors, and 2) we would trust survivors implicitly. The only information we required from survivors to get a grant was: name, whether they identified as a survivor of gender-based violence, how to safely contact them, and safely pay them.
At the same time, we knew we wanted to use the Safety Fund to fill some existing gaps in data around the full cost of economic abuse and survivors' financial well-being. We included an optional survey to collect data from survivors around:
• What support do survivors need during COVID-19?
• What services would survivors like to receive from the domestic violence movement?
• What would survivors like expanded systems of support to look like?
Findings from our report Survivors Know Best: How to Disrupt Intimate Partner Violence During COVID-19 and Beyond
The data included in our report represents more than 1,300 survivors from 36 states and Puerto Rico. Survivors ranged in age from 18 to 71, with an average age of 37, and represented a diverse range of genders, sexualities, races, and ethnicities. (Access the full report for a complete demographic breakdown of our sample.)
While there are existing data indicating the high cost of experiencing IPV, the CDC's estimate is primarily based on medical expenses and lost productivity and doesn't account for things like stolen income or coerced and/or fraudulent debt.[8] We asked survivors to estimate these costs and found that on average:
• Harm-doers steal $1,280 from survivors each month
• Harm-doers restrict survivors' freedom to spend an additional $1,090 of their own money as they see fit each month
• Harm-doers incur $15,936 in coerced and/or fraudulent debt in survivors' names each year
• Survivors lose out on $23,076 of income every year
• Survivors incur $17,770 in property damage costs every year
The devastating financial toll of experiencing harm and economic abuse results in diminished financial security for survivors. To quantify this, we asked survivors to fill out the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Financial Well-Being Scale.[9]
We found that survivors' average score was 16 points lower than that of the average adult in the U.S.; survivors are, on average, 4x more likely than the average American adult to have experienced material hardship (food insecurity or not being able to afford housing) in the past year; and survivors have, on average, less than $250 in savings.
How COVID-19 has impacted survivors
While survivors were financially vulnerable before COVID-19, survivors described four key ways the financial impact of COVID-19 exacerbated their experiences of abuse: escalating violence, fewer financial resources making it harder to get or stay safe, theft of stimulus checks and other COVID-19-related assistance, and slowed court proceedings keeping survivors in contact with harm-doers and delaying potential income like child support.
"The violence got worse during COVID-19, and I had to flee with my 2-year-old daughter. I have been applying to jobs but have had no luck. I'm homeless, sleeping in my car while I find an agency that is willing to help me."
"I haven't been able to work because of COVID-19. It has held me back from moving into safe housing with my children and gaining the financial security we need in order to sustain safe housing."
"My abusive soon-to-be-ex-husband is withholding my half of the stimulus check as another way to control me. Due to this, I am struggling to pay for fees that would allow me to move into a new place."
"I have lost my income, I cannot afford our mortgage payments, I cannot get a child support hearing, and I have serious legal bills due to my abusive ex."
What survivors' needs are and how survivors spent their grants
Survivors indicated their top needs during COVID-19 are cash to spend as needed (64%), utility bill relief (41%), and credit/debt relief (35%). We asked survivors how much they needed to get and/or stay safe, and the average amount they reported was $730. This figure remained remarkably consistent throughout the Safety Fund grant process. From when we'd received just 20 applications to when we'd collected data from 1,300+ survivors, the amount survivors said they needed was always between $700 and $800.
After receiving their grants, survivors reported spending the cash on food (55%), household items like toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc. (41%), and household utilities (40%). Giving the type of no-strings-attached cash that FreeFrom provided to survivors isn't the norm. And this reveals an uncomfortable truth: we don't trust survivors to spend money in the "right" way. Our team at FreeFrom doesn't think there are "right" costs for survivors to cover—every survivor knows their circumstances best—but we hope understanding that most survivors spent their Safety Fund grants on basic needs is a powerful rebuttal to this baseless worry.
It's time we listen to survivors, trust them, and provide the support they need. Survivors know best what their needs are. While the connection between some costs and a survivors' or their child's immediate needs may not be obvious from the outside, what we heard from survivors is that covering costs like car repairs and clothes for work were integral to their safety.
"I was able to pay my car payment without feeling worried. I was able to purchase a new bed for my daughter, too. It was the first time in almost two years where I felt free(!) to purchase something, without guilt. That FEELING is what you most afforded me. Some breathing room and a sense of normalcy."
"The cash came just in time to fix my car. Not having a vehicle makes it difficult to get groceries (I use EBT so I can't order online). Also, my child's dad has threatened to keep her or change custody when I don't have transportation to drop her off at the court ordered time and location. So, the timing of this grant was a huge relief."
Where do we go from here?
Supporting survivors through COVID-19 and beyond will require a multi-faceted approach that frames intimate partner violence for what it is—a structural economic issue. This will require expanding the infrastructure of support for survivors beyond social services organizations. We asked survivors whether they would be interested in seeking support as survivors from a range of different institutions. Overwhelmingly, survivors indicated that if they knew services for survivors were available, they would seek support from religious institutions (67%), banks (51%), credit card companies (48%), employers (47%), and health insurance companies (44%).
We also need to continue expanding our understanding of what economic abuse looks like and costs survivors, particularly among BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ survivors. Many folks focus on the "challenges" of collecting data with survivors. However, in our experience, trusting survivors implicitly, respecting their choice to participate or not, and compensating them generously is a good place to start. Below we share some guidance for collecting data from survivors.
Guidance on collecting data from survivors
While our first priority with the Safety Fund was to get cash to survivors who needed it during COVID-19, we ended up collecting incredibly rich data! More than 90% of survivors filled out some optional questions, and many survivors left us comments about how much they appreciated our trusting and transparent application. Below are a few things we learned from this process that could help folks interested in collecting data from survivors or other vulnerable populations:
• Compensate folks well and in cash when possible.
Folks are sharing intimate stories and details that could bring up emotional challenges. Paying folks well gives them an opportunity to seek services or items they need to recover from any challenging feelings or thoughts that come up. Cash allows folks flexibility.
• Be clear about why you are asking questions throughout a survey.
Even if it was explained in a consent form or welcome message, it's good to remind folks why certain data is being collected so they feel like they can trust the process. Additionally, it's important to be clear about what questions are optional and which are mandatory so that folks know which questions they can skip.
• Use inclusive and trauma-informed language.
To ensure everyone feels seen and included, stay away from gendered language that makes assumptions about survivors. Stay away from words like "victim" or "perpetrator," which can feel unsafe for some survivors. Not everyone is ready to identify as a survivor or maybe will never identify as a survivor even if they have experienced IPV. Using phrases like "people who have experienced IPV" or "a person who is causing harm" can help people better identify with questions and examples. Trauma-informed language is built on the belief that we all carry some form of trauma and minimizes the potential to re-traumatize or harm someone. However, it is also a practice. For example, we asked folks how to contact them safely and gave them the options: text, call, email, and none of these options are safe for me. The trauma-informed practice is that we didn't assume communication was safe. We respected every applicant's choice, including paying them even if contacting them wasn't safe and allowing folks to change their method of communication as their circumstances shifted.
• Make surveys and information available in multiple languages.
Online surveys mean you can reach folks everywhere. However, it is important to translate surveys/information with a cultural lens, as not all words/sentences can be directly translated.
• Trust survivors.
Trust that survivors are experts in their own experiences and are capable of spending their money as they see fit. This also means giving survivors the opportunity to participate or not (versus allowing an agency or someone to make this decision for them). Survivors know what they need, how to stay safe, and what challenges they are experiencing. Give survivors vast and inclusive options and respect the decisions they make.
What can you do to support survivors?
On Thursday, November 19, we re-opened the Safety Fund. In just 12 hours, we received over 2,429 requests for support and had to close our application. We only have the funds to support 1,800 survivors. If you are able, donate and help get cash directly to survivors who need it right now. Anything you can give will go directly to survivors.
We all have a part to play, and we all must heed the call to action. Read our full report, Survivors Know Best: How to Disrupt Intimate Partner Violence During COVID-19 and Beyond, and check out FreeFrom’s COVID-19 Response Guide, which outlines steps that individuals, communities, institutions, and the government can take to support survivors and prioritize survivor wealth now and going forward.
About the authors
Tannia Ventura
Tannia Ventura (she/her/ella) is a daughter of immigrants, queer Latina, and survivor of intimate partner violence herself. Tannia is passionate about supporting service providers and survivors heal economic trauma and create meaningful wealth for themselves and their communities. She received her Master’s in Social Entrepreneurship from Pepperdine University in 2016 and joined FreeFrom in 2017. Since joining FreeFrom, she has launched and lead survivor-centered educational programs related to financial capacity building and entrepreneurship.
Kirkley Doyle
Kirkley Doyle (she/her/hers) is committed to using data as a tool for inclusivity and dismantling hegemonic and othering tactics so often used in data collection. Since joining FreeFrom in November 2019, she has worked collaboratively to measure and evaluate the impact of FreeFrom’s various initiatives and programs. She also leads efforts to collect, analyze, and disseminate research that centers survivors and powers our work to create pathways to financial security and long-term safety for all survivors. Kirkley holds an MS in reproductive and sexual health research from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a BA in psychology from Kenyon College.
About FreeFrom
FreeFrom is a national organization, based in Los Angeles, whose mission is to dismantle the nexus between intimate partner violence and financial insecurity. FreeFrom believes in the creativity, resourcefulness, and power that each survivor has to achieve financial independence and to build communities that support individual, intergenerational, and collective healing. We also believe that intimate partner violence is a systemic problem in our society which we are severely lacking the infrastructure to address.
FreeFrom’s work is to create that infrastructure, by growing the capacity of the anti-violence movement, building tech resources for survivors, creating peer networks that foster survivors’ collective power, changing existing laws and advocating for the passage of new and survivor-centered laws at the state and federal level, expanding the data and research that exists to support the field, and bringing in employers, banks, and other institutions as part of the ecosystem working to support survivor’s financial security and safety.
FOOTNOTES
1 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/increase-domestic-violence-killings-coronavirus-stay-at-home_n_5e907808c5b63e73d7e38fe7?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004
2 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/world/coronavirus-domestic-violence.html
3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2018.04.049
4 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1077801208315529
5 Ibid.
6 https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/2015data-brief508.pdf
7 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0886260519876024
8 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2018.04.049
9 https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/bcfp_fin-well-being_full-scorecard.pdf