Almost one in five UK young women face digital finance abuse, report finds

Economic abuse blocked more than a third of victims from leaving

The report, Access Denied, Futures Derailed, drew on a nationally representative survey of young women and teenage girls conducted with Ipsos UK. It found almost one in five respondents aged 16 to 24 had been affected by this form of abuse — equivalent to nearly 700,000 people. Surviving Economic Abuse said one in three young women experience economic abuse, and that rates are highest among disabled young women and those with caring responsibilities for children, with perpetrators exploiting additional vulnerabilities to exert control.

One in eight girls and young women said a current or former partner had prevented them from having login information, such as passwords for online banking. The same number said a partner had controlled their digital wallets. Seven percent said a partner had taken out credit in their name without their consent or because they were scared to refuse, including from “buy now, pay later” lenders.

More than 40% of those who had experienced the abuse said it had caused them financial difficulty, while half said it had a negative impact on their mental health, such as anxiety, depression, panic attacks, self-harm or suicidal thoughts. More than a third said the economic abuse prevented them from leaving a relationship with the abuser, and one in six had had to borrow money, including from digital lenders such as “buy now, pay later” and online payday lenders, to cover essential items or bills.

One respondent, identified as Becky*, met her now ex-partner when she was 18 and was in the relationship for more than a decade, during which he isolated her from family and friends, coerced her into more than £40,000 of debt and prevented her from working. She fled nearly seven years ago.

“I had good credit at the time and he didn’t,” Becky said. “Even though I said no, he broke me down over many months and forced me to take out a loan in my name to pay for a holiday that he wanted to go on.”

Becky said he also obtained “buy now, pay later” loans in her name, which she discovered only when letters arrived. “There was no verification, it seemed like all he needed from my address and date of birth,” she said. When she left the relationship, she said the interest on the debt “was huge”. “I had to access an [individual voluntary arrangement] but this destroyed my credit score,” she said. “When I fled, it was a huge struggle. I couldn’t get a phone or wifi.”

Becky said she “didn’t know what was healthy or not healthy” in her first proper relationship. “He also isolated me from my family and friends, so I had no one to reach out to. I wish that the government would make sure there is education about economic abuse in schools and in colleges.” She added: “We also need to see banks building in extra layers of protection, particularly with the rising use of AI, they need to be responding to evolving perpetrator tactics.”

Experts and survivors are calling on ministers to use the promised financial education curriculum to teach young people about economic abuse. They are also asking financial services to remove opportunities for domestic abusers to exploit digital financial products and to create additional protections for survivors, including when adopting AI into their systems and processes.

Sam Smethers, chief executive of Surviving Economic Abuse, said digital financial products could be “weapons of abuse”. “To halve violence against women and girls, we must tackle abuse where it happens, including through the digital financial products young women use every day,” Smethers said. “We also want to see financial services firms working with survivors and experts to design out abuse of digital financial products and build in protections. Without action, we risk leaving hundreds of thousands of young women to pay the price.”

Satvir Kaur, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said: “This report shines an important light on a type of abuse that too often goes unrecognised and can take many forms, from controlling someone’s money, to their choices, to their future.”

Kaur said the government had set “the unprecedented ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade”. “Through our ‘Enough’ campaign, we are working with partners across society, including the banking sector, to help people recognise the signs of economic abuse, challenge abusive behaviour and support victims to access the help they need and deserve.”

*Name has been changed.

In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org.