MANDATORY REPORTING
It has been repeatedly documented that mandated reporters fail to recognize or consider the impact of poverty, systemic racism,...
Economic Justice
Survivors of gender-based violence are often forced to stay with or return to an abusive partner because they can’t afford to leave. This is often due to several factors including barriers survivors face in finding and maintaining a job, child care and workplace sabotage from their abusive partner, and financial abuse.
Promising Futures, a Project of Futures Without Violence (FUTURES) believes economic justice is integral to preventing gender-based violence and child abuse.
Survivors of gender-based violence are often forced to stay with or return to an abusive partner because they can’t afford to leave. This is often due to several factors including barriers survivors face in finding and maintaining a job, child care and workplace sabotage from their abusive partner, and other forms of financial abuse. Additionally, survivors may experience harassment and abuse within their workplaces that impact their ability to find and maintain employment.
Survivors may rely on their abusive partner for financial stability, housing, transportation, child care, immigration visas, or access to healthcare benefits. This is often exacerbated for Black and Brown survivors, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander survivors, American Indian or Alaska Native survivors, Latinx survivors, undocumented survivors, and survivors with disabilities.
Economic justice is also critical for child abuse prevention. One of the most common reasons children enter the child welfare system is for “neglect,” which is often for reasons of poverty. When families have the resources and economic security they need to thrive, children are more likely to stay with their parents, and in-turn parents are better able to cope with stress.
Economic justice for gender-based violence survivors and child abuse prevention looks like:
Access to affordable, reliable and flexible quality child care
Extensive and flexible paid leave for survivors care for themselves and their families
Safe and trauma-informed workplaces that respect and accommodate survivors
Workforce development programs that create opportunities and provide key supports for survivors
Access to affordable and safe housing
Equal pay for all survivors in any job or workplace
Accessible social safety nets that provide quality supports
Accessible tax credits that help provide a temporary boost in financial security
Cash Assistance to enhance survivors’ stability, safety, and economic security
Policy Recommendations to Increase Economic Security for Marginalized People and Survivors of Domestic Violence
Child Tax Credit
Child Care
Cash Assistance
National Action Plan Recommendations