Advancing the Economic Security
Gender-based violence is both an economic justice issue and a systemic economic problem. For millions of survivors, safety and economic security are inseparable. Financial control, coerced debt, housing instability, and barriers to employment often make it difficult—and sometimes impossible—for survivors to achieve long-term safety, stability, and well-being.
Developed in partnership with FreeFrom, this publication helps grantmakers better understand the connections between gender-based violence, economic security, and wealth equity. It builds on Asset Funders Network (AFN) and FreeFrom’s 2020 brief, Making Safety Affordable: Intimate Partner Violence is an Asset-Building Issue, which introduced grantmakers to the relationship between gender-based violence, economic security, and wealth equity and offered actionable recommendations for the field.
Grounded in survivor-led research and insights from more than 9,600 survivors, this report advances the conversation by centering survivor-informed grantmaking strategies. Together with the accompanying funder case studies, it offers a blueprint for investing in survivors’ economic security, safety, and well-being in ways that are effective, sustainable, and grounded in integrity.
Whether your work focuses on housing, workforce development, financial well-being, health, racial equity, economic mobility, or wealth building, you are likely already serving survivors. This resource provides guidance for incorporating survivor-centered approaches into existing grantmaking strategies while supporting broader systems change.
What You’ll Learn
This report explores:
⇒ Why economic security is foundational to survivor safety, healing, and well-being
⇒ The financial impacts of gender-based violence and economic abuse
⇒ Survivor-informed approaches to direct cash assistance and wealth building
⇒ Systems-level barriers across housing, financial services, tax policy, workplaces, and public benefits
⇒ Opportunities for philanthropy to support survivor-led solutions and policy change
⇒ Actionable recommendations from survivors and organizations working on the front lines
Companion Case Studies
This framing document is accompanied by a growing collection of funder case studies that demonstrate how philanthropic organizations are translating survivor-informed principles into practice.
The initial launch includes two case studies highlighting innovative approaches to advancing survivors’ economic security, safety, and well-being. Together, these companion resources provide grantmakers with both the framework and the real-world examples needed to strengthen economic justice, expand opportunity, and support long-term prosperity for survivors. Additional case studies will be added over time to expand the field’s understanding of what works.
