Opinion: Domestic and elder abuse leave scars many can’t see

Survivors of gender-based violence, sex and labor trafficking, elder and caretaker abuse carry an average of $15,000 of debt that was coerced through fraud, intimidation, lies, threats or actual harm. In a 2024 national survey of 14,000 coerced debt survivors, only a handful reported that they found relief from that debt through existing remedies.

When people think about domestic violence, most think of physical abuse, but any survivor will tell you safety is out of reach because safety costs money – and their partners know it. In nearly every case, domestic violence includes emptied bank accounts and mountains of insurmountable debt.  

Economic abuse keeps people like Maria locked in dangerous situations. It also increases the likelihood that they will be harmed or killed by their abusive partner. 

But that doesn’t have to be the case. New York can help keep survivors safe.

That’s why we are sponsoring legislation (A.3038-A/S.1353-A) that would provide survivors of gender-based and domestic violence, trafficking, elder and caretaker abuse with a powerful legal remedy to get out from under coerced debt.