Women are being forced to turn to illegal money lenders as the result of what is described as a “hidden but devastating form of economic abuse”.
Scottish Women’s Aid has published a study on the problem of coerced debt – where an abusive partner or ex-partner build up debt in their victim’s name, either without consent or knowledge or through force, threat or coercion.
This research is said to be the “first focused insight into coerced debt in Scotland”.
And it revealed that a “small but significant” number of women were said to have been “pushed towards illegal money lenders, often due to extreme financial pressure”.
As it was published, Dr Jenn Glinski, author of the report and the national policy lead for economic…