Economic Security for Survivors

Economic Security for Survivors (ESS) Project

Economic Security and Survivor Safety

Economic security is inextricably linked to survivor safety. Survivors often experience economic challenges that can have a lasting impact on their ability to recover from an act of violence, leave an abusive situation or be free from violence in a relationship. Not only can physical violence have lifelong financial consequences, perpetrators can use economic abuse as a means of power and control. As a result of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, stalking and dating violence, survivors may experience:

Dependency on the abuser in order to provide for basic needs for themselves or their family
Job loss or lost wages due to interference from the abuser at work or from time off to recover from abuse
Unfinished education or training because of missed classes or a need to relocate
Eviction and damaged tenant history due to law enforcement involvement
Debt from healthcare, relocation costs, replacing damaged property
Damaged credit from abusers trying to financially cripple the survivor
Loss of personal property

These financial aspects of violence can thwart the ability of survivors to reestablish their lives and move forward. From securing housing to obtaining employment, survivors often face significant barriers to achieving financial independence at a time when they have the greatest need. Those who are economically secure – who are able to meet their basic needs and have some stability through savings and assets – are better able to insulate themselves from harm. The safety of survivors is inextricably linked to their economic security.

The Economic Security for Survivors (ESS) Project

Recognizing this linkage between economic security and safety, the Economic Security for Survivors (ESS) Project aims to promote the integration of strategies that foster economic security into the programs and policies that support the safety and well-being of survivors.

Established in 2010, the ESS project provides education, training and technical assistance to transitional housing programs, direct services providers, state and local governments, and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)’s Services Training Officers Prosecutors (STOP) Grant Program. This project seeks to enhance victim services by providing strategies, tools and knowledge that can provide survivors with the resources they need to become economically secure.

Through a series of webinars, trainings, best practices and on-site technical assistance, WOW will strengthen victim service programs by:

Equipping advocates with the information and resources they need to better counsel survivors in economic self-sufficiency and career planning
Sharing tools to calculate cost of being economically secure (including the Basic Economic Security Tables and Self-Sufficiency Standard)
Providing strategies and resources to support the criminal justice system's efforts to respond to economic abuses and promote survivor safety
Building linkages within the coordinated community response model to programs that can help survivors move on a pathway to economic security

For more information or to request technical assistance, please contact Sarah Gonzalez Bocinski at sbocinski@wowonline.org .