Hull York Medical School, Hull, UK.
Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Womens Health (Lond). 2021 Jan-Dec;17:17455065211042180. doi: 10.1177/17455065211042180.
Economic abuse is a form of intimate partner violence that still lacks a clear conceptualization and therefore is often overlooked next to physical, sexual and psychological abuse. While existing categorizations recognize economic intimate partner violence as economic control, economic exploitation and employment sabotage, current measurements of economic abuse rarely capture all its forms, and the issue has not been widely explored in low- and middle-income country settings.
We conducted in-depth interviews with 18 women in Mwanza, Tanzania to understand local perceptions and experiences of economic intimate partner violence. We used a thematic analysis approach.
Our study illustrates the complexity of economic abuse as a unique form of intimate partner violence, with women experiencing economic exploitation, employment sabotage, economic control and male economic irresponsibility. Gender norms and expectations actively played a key role in furthering abusive economic behaviour as women attempted to generate their own income and participate in financial decisions. Women's constructs and reactions to economic abuse diverged sharply from the traditional marital expectations of dutifully accepting male control and the men being the main breadwinners in the family. Despite it being widespread, women did not find economic abuse acceptable.
The results highlight that economic abuse is a complex issue and that more research on the pathways and manifestations of economic abuse globally would be beneficial. Existing measurement tools should be widened to address all dimensions of economic abuse. Addressing economic abuse will require multi-strategy interventions, working at the individual and community-level to address gender roles and masculinity norms, working with both men and women.
经济虐待是一种形式的亲密伴侣暴力，它仍然缺乏明确的概念化，因此常常被忽视，而不是身体、性和心理虐待。虽然现有的分类将经济亲密伴侣暴力视为经济控制、经济剥削和就业破坏，但目前对经济虐待的衡量很少能捕捉到其所有形式，而且这个问题在中低收入国家的背景下尚未得到广泛探讨。
我们在坦桑尼亚姆万扎进行了深入访谈，共采访了 18 名妇女，以了解当地对经济亲密伴侣暴力的看法和经验。我们使用了主题分析方法。
我们的研究说明了经济虐待作为一种独特形式的亲密伴侣暴力的复杂性，妇女经历了经济剥削、就业破坏、经济控制和男性经济不负责任。性别规范和期望在促进虐待性经济行为方面发挥了关键作用，因为妇女试图创造自己的收入并参与财务决策。妇女对经济虐待的看法和反应与传统的婚姻期望截然不同，传统的婚姻期望是妇女顺从地接受男性的控制，而男性是家庭的主要经济支柱。尽管经济虐待很普遍，但妇女并不认为它是可以接受的。
研究结果表明，经济虐待是一个复杂的问题，全球范围内需要更多关于经济虐待途径和表现的研究。现有的衡量工具应该扩大范围，以解决经济虐待的所有方面。解决经济虐待问题需要采取多策略干预措施，在个人和社区层面解决性别角色和男性气质规范问题，同时与男女双方合作。
