 TITLE: Financial Abuse: How to Identify and Stop It CONTENT: What Is Financial Abuse?\n------------------------\nNot all money problems are signs of economic abuse. Money disagreements or unequal sharing of responsibility for paying bills, for example, are common. In healthy relationships, issues like these may be resolved by learning more about managing credit, sticking to a budget or handling joint accounts.\nFinancial troubles can cross the line into abuse when control, deception and exploitation enter the picture. Secret spending, hidden accounts and identity theft are classic signs of financial abuse. According to National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), financial abuse can take many forms, among them:\n*   Withholding money or giving an \"allowance.\"\n*   Not allowing access to bank accounts.\n*   Forbidding you to work or sabotaging work opportunities by stalking or harassing.\n*   Running up large amounts of debt on joint accounts.\n*   Forcing you to write bad checks or file fraudulent tax returns.\n*   Refusing to work or contribute to family income.\n*   Hiding assets.\n*   Stealing your identity, property or inheritance.\n*   Forcing you to work in a family business without pay.\n*   Refusing to pay bills.\n*   Evading child support or manipulating a divorce process by hiding or not disclosing assets.\nFinancial abuse occurs across socioeconomic, educational, racial and ethnic groups and includes people of all genders. Often, it fits into a larger pattern of abuse. In a study cited by the Center for Financial Security, 99% of domestic violence survivors also experienced some form of financial abuse. Financial instability is also a common reason someone may stay in an abusive relationship or return to their abuser. END