Economic Violence: Women's Financial Independence Continues to Decline

Without a Personal Account, No Room for Maneuver

Each year, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is marked by upsetting statistics. However, the 2025 edition of the survey conducted by Ifop for Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale and the FNSF highlights a particularly troubling issue: the loss of financial independence.

According to the published results, more than one in four women in a relationship does not have access to a personal bank account. Not only is this figure high, but it has increased compared to the previous year, indicating that economic independence within relationships is not progressing as quickly as public discourse might suggest.

This lack of financial autonomy is not merely an administrative detail. It is one of the most powerful—and least visible—mechanisms of economic violence, a form of abuse that remains largely unrecognized.

This abuse takes various forms, including confiscating income, tightly controlling expenses, monopolizing joint accounts, or diverting family savings, even funds intended for children.

All these forms of abuse share a common goal: they deprive women of the ability to act, make decisions, and, most importantly, to leave.

Many victims explain that they cannot leave their abusive partners due to a lack of personal financial resources, a secure account, or the means to find new housing. The link between economic dependence and the inability to escape is direct. It explains why economic violence is now seen as a critical factor of control.

Contrary to popular belief, domestic violence is not limited to physical or psychological dimensions. One of the harshest realities is the deprivation of access to financial resources, preventing victims from adequately feeding themselves, getting around, saving money, or considering an independent solution. A personal bank account—however modest—is often the only way out.

The Ifop survey notes that many women have their income seized by their partners or lack independent access to payment methods. Without a card, savings, or sometimes even a personal phone, dependence becomes total.

This is precisely why specialized organizations emphasize the importance of financial independence, which should be regarded as both a civic reflex and a legal right.

Confronted with this reality, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale—the first bank to adopt a purpose-driven company status—implemented a unique initiative on July 1, 2024: the rapid, discreet, and free opening of a personal bank account for one year for women victims of domestic violence, provided they are supported by the FNSF.

This account is not linked to the marital home and does not appear in documents the partner could access. The goal is simple: to restore a secure financial space for those who no longer have one.

This initiative does not aim to solve economic violence entirely, but it helps break a crucial barrier: that of not having access to a bank account. In practice, this measure offers a concrete foundation for organizing an escape, rebuilding minimal savings, or accessing social benefits independently of the abusive partner.

A Structural Vulnerability

If economic violence is on the rise, it's also because financial autonomy remains unevenly distributed within couples. Household budgeting, bank account management, or savings decisions continue to fall more heavily on men in many households.

The financial marginalization of women is therefore not an anomaly; it's part of a societal continuum where, too often, women forgo financial independence out of habit, pressure, or emotional dependency... until this renunciation becomes a trap.

For those involved in combating domestic violence, the priority is now to broaden awareness of these dynamics and to systematize access to a personal account.

The Ifop survey shows that economic dependence is still not well understood, even though it is one of the most tangible barriers to effectively protecting victims.

Fighting economic violence thus requires alignment: from the banking system, public authorities, associations, and society as a whole.

Because beyond the statistics, the real issue at stake is the ability to regain control of one's daily life—paying rent, making a purchase, taking a taxi to escape—which depends on access to a simple bank account.