Abuse takes a heavy toll

When I was a child, my mother Rosemary would tell me she wanted to leave my father, but said she had no money to do it. My dad controlled the purse strings. Everything was in his name: the house, the bank account and the car. She had to ask him for money and he would scrutinise her spending.

Rosemary stuck with him for more than four decades until one day he finally told her he had a secret second family.

Financial dependence is one of the biggest barriers to escaping an abusive relationship, says Hayley Foster, CEO of Full Stop