Economic abuse: The most common yet overlooked form of gender-based violence in South Africa
Image: Independent Newspapers Archives
Economic abuse is emerging as the most common and insidious form of gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa, yet many women do not recognise it as abuse.
This was one of the central findings of the Human Sciences Research Council's (HSRC) First South African National Gender-Based Violence Study. It was released at the end of 2024.
According to a recent HSRC article based on a webinar, one in eight women over the age of 18 have experienced economic abuse, which includes the unreasonable deprivation of money or resources that a woman is legally entitled to or needs to survive.
In the webinar, Ncumisa Yazo, a social worker from Mosaic, said economic abuse is the most frequent form of violence she encounters among survivors. 'Most of the cases are intimate partner cases,' she said. 'This includes the unreasonable deprivation of economic or financial resources.'
The HSRC report links economic violence to other forms of abuse, showing how power and control are reinforced through financial dependency. The study found that more than 50% of women had experienced controlling behaviour from a partner, including restrictions on work, movement, and access to finances.
Women with disabilities are especially vulnerable to this kind of abuse.
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The data shows that 16.3% of women with disabilities had experienced economic abuse, compared to 12.8% of those without disabilities. Many are financially dependent on caregivers who exploit their disability grants and limit their ability to access support or escape abuse.
Older women are another group heavily impacted by economic violence. According to a study by Ikamva Labantu, older women in townships face financial exploitation by relatives, often in multigenerational homes. 'The highest risk for abuse was in families where children or grandchildren abused substances,' said Lulama Sigasana, the organisation's Older Persons Programme Manager in the webinar.
She said many older women are forced to care for grandchildren while being deprived of their pensions or income by abusive family members. Abuse is often accompanied by neglect, accusations of witchcraft, and in some cases, incestuous rape.
THE MERCURY
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