Each year, millions of women throughout the world experience violence and abuse at the hands of their intimate partner. Abusers coercively control them by using a variety of tactics ranging from physical or sexual violence to emotional or psychological abuse. An additional tactic often used includes financial abuse in which the abuser controls the money in the family, exploits the victim’s financial standing, and interrupts her efforts to be self-sufficient. The impact of financial abuse can leave women financially trapped in the relationship with limited financial management skills, knowledge, or self-confidence. Indeed, survivors often mention financial barriers as a top reason for keeping them trapped by the abuser in the relationship.   Curiously, little of the research on domestic violence has sought to either fully understand the impact of financial abuse or to determine which intervention strategies are most effective for the financial empowerment of survivors. Building Financial Empowerment for Survivors of Domestic Violence aims to address this critical knowledge gap by providing those who work with survivors of domestic violence with practical knowledge on how to empower the financial well-being and stability of survivors. Specifically, every practitioner, human service provider, criminal justice practitioner, financial manager, and corporate supervisor should be screening the women they encounter for economic abuse, and when such abuse is found, they should work with the women toward developing financial safety plans and refer survivors to financial empowerment programs to assist survivors to become free from abuse.

An in-depth examination of the various historical, cultural, economic, and legal forces that contribute to violence against women and girls in the United States as well as the policies, programs, and laws that have been created to ameliorate this pervasive problem. Nearly two decades into the 21st century, the United States still suffers from a disturbingly high incidence of domestic violence; continued sexual assault against women, both in uniform and on campus; and high levels of misogyny in American culture and politics. Violence Against Women and Girls: A Documentary and Reference Guide provides users with an understanding of the reasons why violence against women and girls in the United States continues. It also documents the resources that are available to female children and adults who have been victimized. The primary documents in this volume enable readers to gauge America's changing perceptions of the severity of this issue over time, understand the findings of important studies, hear harrowing first-hand accounts of girls and women who have been the victims of violence, and examine the debate over whether American society supports a "rape culture." This guide also showcases the efforts of individuals and groups who are fighting back to reduce such violence in family homes, on campus, and in communities. * Provides readers with a unique reference work that explicitly focuses on violence against women in all of its forms * Includes dozens of primary source documents that illuminate important milestones, issues, and viewpoints on the broad subject of violence against girls and women * Pays special attention to key topics, including sexual assault in the military, sexual assault on campus, and the debate about the existence of a "rape culture" in America * Provides a context-setting headnote and concluding analysis of subsequent impact with each primary document