As the world takes action to commemorate the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence from November 25 to December 12, many are reflecting on physical gender-based violence. One group however, the Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment (CCFWE), is calling on activists to pay attention to economic abuse as well.
Economic abuse, according to CCFWE founder Meseret Haileyesus, is wider in its definition than ‘Financial Abuse’ which is a term usually used to describe denying or restricting access to money, or misusing another person’s money. While financial abuse is a form of economic abuse, Haileyesus said economic abuse also includes restricting access to essential resources and denying the means to improve a person’s economic status.
Haileyesus said it is important that people pay attention to economic abuse because a survey conducted by CCFWE indicated that 95 per cent of Ottawa-area women who experienced domestic abuse are likely to experience economic abuse as well. She said many women feel unable to leave violent situations because they are not economically empowered.
“Economic empowerment is all about getting your power as a woman,” Haileyesus said. “The smart perpetrator just takes that power so that you would be nothing. That’s the best way to keep you in a trap.”
The marginalization of women in the workplace only further keeps women in a cycle of abuse, Haileyesus said. According to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey, the average hourly wage for all Canadian women was $4.74 less than the average hourly wage for all men in October 2023. A 2022 study of the Canadian gender wage gap indicated that Canadian-born women who worked in the same job as Canadian-born men earned 9.2 per cent less than their male counterparts.
Haileyesus said that pay inequity is what is hindering many women from leaving economically abusive situations. As well, she said women who survived domestic abuse are struggling to advance in the workplace.
“Because of your situation, if you are not qualified to have that [higher] position, you’ll continue the cycle for generations,” Haileyesus said.
Workplace culture forcing women out of employment
According to labour leaders in Canada, workplace culture is making it hard for some women to stay in certain sectors. Without a workplace that can provide sustainable psychological safety, many women are having trouble staying in a job which could otherwise be an avenue towards economic empowerment.
Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU), said that labour conditions for nurses are making it hard for many to stay.
“When we look at nursing, it is a diverse profession. But the reality is that in 2023, it’s still about 91 to 92 per cent female,” Silas said. “With nursing, you think it’s a soft profession. It’s a very caring profession. You see the pictures of nurses holding hands sitting by the bedside, hugging and smiling. The reality is that violence in healthcare is as prevalent as it is for police officers.”
Silas said she felt frustrated with the way male experiences dominate discussions on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by workplace experiences. She said until recently, violence and stress have been overlooked in female dominated workplaces.
“The reality is today 30 to 50 per cent [of nurses] are looking for the exit door,” Silas said. “That is waking up every politician and bureaucrat across the country.”
In non-female dominated professions, retention of women workers has also become an issue. Karen Dearlove, Executive Director of BC Centre for Women in the Trades (BCCWITT), said that women in the trades are also leaving, in large part due to machismo in the workplace.
“We are looking at that type of negative workplace culture,” Dearlove said. “It’s one of the reasons why a lot of women don’t get into the skilled trades. But more than that, it’s a reason why they don’t continue on and are unable to be successful. So the retention of women in these workplaces is rather low.”
The low retention rate of women workers and the gender pay gap is only furthering women’s economic disempowerment, Haileyesus said. To address the systems that allow for cycles of violence to persist, women’s economic health and workplace rights must be addressed.
“Organizations, they have to create a trauma-informed economic empowerment program for a woman to either start their business or to go back to the workforce,” Haileyesus said. “It is the most important way to break the cycles of gender based violence.”
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