If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, including financial abuse, visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline or call 1-800-799-7233. Visit Ujima’s website for more information and resources. By getting educated and involved, you can be a crucial part of the solution and help create a safer, more supportive environment for all survivors.
Nearly all survivors of domestic violence face a hidden form of control that’s rarely discussed: financial abuse. More than 40% of Black women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime and are three times more likely to die at the hands of an intimate partner than women of other racial groups, and often face systemic barriers when trying to access support.
During a recent town hall in Martha’s Vineyard hosted by Ujima in partnership with The Allstate Foundation, our panelists delved into this very topic and how financial abuse is used to isolate victims by limiting their access to money, damaging credit, sabotaging job opportunities and more.
This timely and critical discussion highlights the urgent need to recognize the signs of financial abuse and disrupt its devastating impact. By creating more supportive environments, understanding the unique barriers that survivors face and providing financial resources, there is hope for survivors to break free and rebuild their lives. Despite the challenges addressed, the town hall left attendees with a message of empowerment: through collective action, we can help survivors move from crisis to thriving, healthy lives.
Essence Senior Editor Kimberly Wilson was joined by:
- Kimya Motley, survivor and chief communications officer of A Call to Men, an organization that promotes healthy, respectful masculinity.
- Karma Cottman, Chief Executive Officer, Ujima, The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community.
- Sharisse Kimbro, relationship abuse program officer for The Allstate Foundation, which has invested $100 million dollars over the past twenty years to disrupt the cycle and reduce the prevalence of domestic violence, to ensure all survivors can access the support and safety they deserve.