Text Credits: Sandra James

Domestic violence is a very widely discussed subject. Sexual and physical forms of domestic abuse is something we are all very well aware of. But there is another form of abuse that does not appear to be visible but contribute to domestic abuse. And that is the financial abuse, Serena Williams becomes the face of Allstate Foundation Purple Purse’s street art campaign to spread awareness on the same. The foundation stands to end the domestic violence by financially empowering the victims.

The women’s aid describes financial abuse as:

“Financial abuse is an aspect of ‘coercive control’ – a pattern of controlling, threatening and degrading behavior that restricts a victims’ freedom”

The perpetrators in this situation take control of the money to manipulate their partners and thereby limits the freedom of their partner. In some cases the abuser uses the credit card of the victim without the permission, leaving them with big sums to be paid. In other cases the abuser restricts the partner’s access to bank accounts, independent income and in some cases even forces them to give up their jobs, there by making them unable to afford basic necessities like food and clothing. The violators at times also employs physical violence to enforce the financial abuse. And this case of violence is not only restricted to women in a relationship. The data says that one in four men experience this sort of abuse.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

The Allstate Foundation Purple Purse plans to spread awareness on the issue by installing murals around the country with messages of financial abuse. The first one is already installed outside Tictail market and the others will be installed in Houston, New Orleans, Chicago, Seattle, and LA. People are encouraged to photograph themselves with the mural and to post on social media to spread the awareness. Each of this mural has a hidden message that can only be read by using Instagram’s moon filter.

Serena William talked about financial abuse, she said  :

“There’s a lot of misconceptions [about financial abuse]. The biggest one is that it doesn’t exist  or ‘how is that abuse?’ And it is abuse if you don’t have money, if you’re only given a certain amount that you spend and you can’t spend more than that. It’s a way to keep you down. It’s a way to keep you from making your life better. It’s a way to keep you in a situation where you’re oppressed and you’re abused.”

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