Beaten women often have debts: "I did everything to plead him"

According to an estimate by Fier, a national center for treatment and expertise in violence in dependency relationships, 90% of women who end up in social services for domestic violence also have financial problems (major ). Healthcare providers often do not know it.

Stress related to money

"This is because indebted people seldom discuss their financial problems alone," says Ferdi Bekken, a researcher at Fier. "And the expertise of healthcare providers is at a completely different level, namely to end violence and support socio-emotional issues." he himself will live. She has been living in a shelter for two years, after an uncomfortable teenager. She meets a boy who quickly moves in with her. It's completely wrong, she says. "He gave me a feeling of guilt and I did everything to plead him." He also did things that Ella did not know. He ordered things in his name, hidden accounts and began to hit her.

"At one point, I learned that the bills had not been paid for a few months and that I could not pay the extra reminder fees." Says: "Okay, you know what to do to get your money. "That's how Ella found herself in prostitution.

Issuing a debit card

" At Fier, we see a lot of girls and women who have been exploited financially in the context of a violent relationship, "said Bekken." By their loverboy, by their family or by a partner, violence can be a cause of financial problems, but also a consequence. "

For example, women force their debit cards, must pay surcharges on behalf of another person or Like Ella, they end up in prostitution

when she got pregnant, after five years, Ella finally managed to get out of the evil relationship The police and Veilig Thuis helped her and she also found herself with a psychologist from Fier. There, she recounted for the first time that she had been assaulted at the age of eight. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Firefighters on fire

In the years with his ex, his debts rose to 11,000 euros. She was placed under administration for this, partly because of PTSD. "I could not keep an overview, the pressure was too strong," Ella said. When the trauma treatment began, she gradually regained control of her life.

Between her 14 and 23 years, Ella had to deal with various social workers. "Each time they focused on the visible problems, and I did it myself: put out the fires." Nobody made the connection between what had happened at the age of eight and what she felt later in her life, she said. "It was necessary to solve problems structurally."

Money and Violence

Based on a year and a half of research, Bekken wrote for Pride the book Money and Violence. With this, the organization wants to make it easier for humanitarian workers to make the connection between financial problems and domestic violence. "They do not have to manage the debts of their customers themselves, but they have to be able to identify and discuss them," says Bekken. "If they do not, the stress and the risks of problems will remain"

. He calls the example of a family where there were many escalations of violence that seemed unstoppable. Until rescuers discover that debt recovery letters have arrived before each escalation. They caused so much tension that they were always violent.

Bekken is not so concerned about adapting laws or regulations. "There are two systems that work well: debt rescheduling and assistance against violence, which must work better together, and the gap that separates them must be reduced."