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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
Enacted in 2004, the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act or Republic Act (RA) No. 9262 defines and penalizes acts of violence against women and children (VAWC) committed by women’s intimate partners. Of the acts of violence criminalized, salient though not as often-cited is the provision on “Economic Abuse.” Economic Abuse refers to acts that make or attempt to make a woman financially dependent on her partner.
Enacted in 2004, the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act or Republic Act (RA) No. 9262 defines and penalizes acts of violence against women and children (VAWC) committed by women’s intimate partners. Of the acts of violence criminalized, salient though not as often-cited is the provision on “Economic Abuse.”
What is Economic Abuse?
Economic Abuse refers to acts that make or attempt to make a woman financially dependent on her partner.
Economic Abuse includes, but is not limited to:
- withholding financial support;
- preventing the victim from engaging in any legitimate profession, occupation, business or activity, except in cases wherein the other spouse/partner objects on valid, serious and moral grounds;
- deprivation or threat of deprivation of financial resources and the right to use and enjoy conjugal, community or property owned in common;
- destroying household property;
- controlling the victim’s own money or properties or solely controlling the conjugal money or properties.
The Supreme Court in Acharon v. People (G.R. No. 224946, 9 November 2021) provided more examples, based on the findings of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Battered Women’s Support Services.
Accordingly, the following also constitute Economic Abuse:
- Interfering with the victim’s work through harassment;
- Denying the victim access to money, to the point that she is entirely dependent on the abuser for food, clothing and shelter;
- Intentionally withholding access to food, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene products, or medication;
- Refusing to allow the victim to work or attend school;
- Requiring justification for any money spent and punishing the victim with physical, sexual or emotional abuse;
- Stealing or destroying the victim’s personal belongings;
- Controlling paychecks and bank accounts;
- Refusing to pay the victim court-ordered child or spousal support;
- Preventing the victim from accessing transportation;
- Deciding where the victim will work;
- Outright forbidding the victim to work;
- Forcing the victim to work in family business with little or no pay;
- Forcing the victim to turn over government benefit payments including child tax benefits;
However, the Court also explained that while Economic Abuse takes on many forms, the “mere failure to pay financial support” does not constitute economic abuse if there is no proven intent that the act was done with the specific intent to control or restrict the woman and/or her child’s financial independence.
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