Supporting
survivors

Natasha had been dating her ex-husband for six months when he first ordered her to remove her clothes and pose for intimate photos. In time, these photos were used to control her -if Natasha ‘disobeyed’ or ‘displeased’ her ex-husband in any way, he would threaten to send those photos to her close friends and family. She lived in fear that he would ruin her reputation. Today she is happily married to a new partner and her ex is in prison.

Susan’s husband created a home security system within their home. There were cameras in every room and smart home speakers that broadcast his commands to Susan in every room. Susan felt that she had no privacy. Susan reported the surveillance and abuse to the police. They checked the property and found a home-built monitoring system in the garden that was linked to every device in the home and was watching Susan in every room. The police removed the devices and are reviewing a criminal conviction for coercive control.

Ellen’s husband had been abusive for many years. She is self-employed and had a work website he had helped her set up years ago. After they divorced he refused to give her control of her website and email. She lost a lot of income because of this. Ellen later found out that he also had access to her iCloud account, personal emails, location, and social media accounts.

Ellen worked to regain control of her email accounts, laptop, phone and her children’s phones and tablets. Ellen is no longer being tracked through any of her devices or accounts. She learned a great deal about tech safety in order to keep herself and her children safe. She built a new website and her business is doing well.

Laura had been dating her partner for less than a year when he first coerced her into take out a credit card. She was forced to provide for him financially, whilst also being prevented from accessing work. Today, Laura has had nearly £4000 of debt written off, and is working towards rebuilding her future free from economic abuse.

Selina is a single parent to four children. Selina’s ex-partner isolated Selina from family and friends during their relationship. He would pressurise Selina to take out credit cards in her name, he removed the cards from Selina and created debts in her name. Her ex-partner coerced and forced Selina to take a van out on finance in her name, this left Selina paying back monthly payments of £300. Selina and her ex-partner separated, before he left, he took the van with him and she was left to make the monthly payments, which she struggled to do. Selina reported the economic abuse to the police, who advised it was a civil matter.  Selina reported the missing van to the ex-partners police force who were more responsive, they returned the van, however, there had been a lot of damage done to the vehicle. Selina managed to get the repairs done again at a cost she had to cover. Selina contacted the Finance Company to explain the situation, but they were not helpful. Selina was referred to our specialist team, where we advocated with the company on Selina’s behalf.  After advocacy and explaining the economic abuse that Selina had been subjected to and supporting Selina to present evidence to the company, they agreed to take back the vehicle at no cost to Selina. They also agreed to ensure any missed payments did not negatively impact Selina’s credit report.