Advisor to the CEO at Urban Resource Institute in New York, discusses some of the tactics of economic abuse and explains why it is often the reason survivors return to an abusive relationship. Key to stopping this cycle is education including “violence prevention and healthy relationship education programs for youth, and traumainformed behavioral intervention accountability programs for individuals who have caused harm,” said White-Reid. In February 2023, URINYC advocated for the passage of a state bill redefining domestic violence under the New York City Human Rights Law to include economic abuse, which includes coerced debt and gives victims expanded protections. Just as crucial is economic investment, including housing support and IPV-related debt prevention, she explained: “Economic abuse, experienced by 98% of survivors, often serves as a primary reason they stay or return to an abusive partner.” URINYC also offers workforce development, employment assistance and affordable housing services including People and Animals Living Safely (PALS). “We learned that 50% of survivors would not leave a dangerous situation if they could not take their pets with them,” said White-Reid. “PALS is the only dedicated program in New York City, and among a few nationally, allowing domestic violence survivors to live and heal together with their pets as they work to achieve economic stability.” A FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE Without resources like these, “I chose homelessness over returning to abuse,” said Desiree Martinez, who was unhoused for five years in Fresno, California until 2016 due to IPV. Desiree Martinez, Executive Director of We Are NOT Invisible, shares what she learned after being unhoused and how it motivates her to advocate for better services for people experiencing homelessness. “Lacking insurance after a mental breakdown, I was desperate for assistance at a local mental health office but ended up being confined as they deemed me at-risk,” continued Martinez, who is now Executive Director of homelessness advocacy nonprofit We Are NOT Invisible. “National hotlines directed me to county resources, yet there was limited local support. After not meeting the criteria for a bed at a domestic violence shelter, I found myself at a homeless shelter sleeping on the floor amongst others,” added Martinez, who suggested that shelters reserve beds for domestic violence survivors, given the high prevalence of homelessness among them. “It’s especially dangerous for women to survive the streets,” she said. “In Fresno County there was a lot of sex trafficking, a lot of drugs. You stay up all night in order not to be raped. You have nowhere to change, no shower, no heat. You don’t feel like a female. You’re scared constantly and all you want is shelter — no wonder a lot of people choose to go back home.” “The shelter’s gender restrictions left me exposed to the streets once again, surviving on a fixed disability income while facing steep rents,” Martinez explained. “If it wasn’t for a 30% income affordable housing voucher, I would still probably be on the streets, and who knows what would have happened to me. Yet, I’m nervous every year because the rent continues to increase, but the voucher does not.” “You flee an abusive relationship because you want safety, but being unhoused makes you vulnerable to thousands of strangers. For a time, I’d ended up going back because I’d rather be abused by one I knew,” she added. “We need to educate people about what’s happening to us in the streets — that we’re good people too who just want a permanent home.” survivor
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