About me
My purpose
My passion and purpose for working on ‘all things economic abuse’ came from conversations with women survivors. I heard how economic control took away their freedom and stopped them from achieving their full potential.
I discovered that there were no practice responses to economic abuse - it wasn't even named in policy. So, in 2008, I undertook the first piece of research on economic abuse in the UK to understand the issue better. This led me to develop the Economic Power & Control Wheel, which demonstrates the variety of tactics abusers use. The Wheel is now used widely in practice and across the globe and has been translated into several languages.
I have since conducted extensive research into economic abuse in the UK and internationally, including as an Emeritus Research Fellow at the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University. My book 'Understanding and Responding to Economic Abuse' was published by Bloomsbury in 2022.
Creating change
In 2016 I was appointed a Churchill Fellow, travelling to Australia and the US to learn about approaches to economic abuse. Having seen what could be done, I was determined that women in the UK should have access to the same.
Inspired by this international learning, I founded the charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) in the UK which I led as CEO between January 2017 and May 2024. During this time, I pioneered innovative practice, policy, regulatory and legislative approaches to economic abuse. These include successfully advocating for primary legislation to both recognise and name economic abuse as well amend existing legislation to criminalise post-separation abuse.
Key to my approach was influencing systems change in the financial services sector. I worked with UK Finance to develop the Financial Abuse Code (2018, 2021, 2025), which guides firms in their work to support survivors. I also worked with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to recognise economic abuse as a driver of vulnerability.
Recognition
I was awarded an OBE for services to victims of domestic and economic abuse in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours.
In 2022, I was runner up for the Saskia Jones Award at the Criminal Justice Awards, celebrating people who are working to transform criminal justice.
Going global
In June 2024 I scaled up my mission to stop economic abuse through building a global movement. I act as an Expert Advisor to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) housed at the World Bank. I am co-founder and Head of Secretariat of the International Alliance Against Economic Abuse (ICAEA) and I offer advisory and consultancy services to organisations working around the world. I also continue to develop the evidence base, exploring how economic abuse intersects with public protection issues and customer vulnerability more broadly.
Recognition
