Economic Justice

Economic Justice at Futures Without Violence

At Futures Without Violence (FUTURES), we believe economic justice is gender-based violence prevention and child abuse prevention for marginalized communities.

FUTURES takes an integrated and intersectional approach to creating a world without gender-based violence, including an emphasis on economic justice. Survivors of gender-based violence are often forced to stay with an abusive partner because they can’t afford to leave. They may rely on their harm doer for financial stability, housing, transportation, child care, or access to healthcare benefits. This is often exacerbated for Black and Brown survivors, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander survivors, American Indian or Alaska native survivors, Latinx survivors, undocumented survivors and survivors with disabilities. The key to eradicating and preventing violence is economic justice for survivors and their families.

Economic justice is also critical for child abuse prevention. One of the most common reasons children enter the child welfare system is for “neglect,” but we have repeatedly seen neglect used to penalize families living in poverty. When families have the resources and economic security they need to thrive, children have a higher chance of staying together with their parents, and parents have a higher resiliency against stress and abuse.

Economic justice for gender-based violence survivors and child abuse prevention looks like:

• Access to affordable, reliable and flexible quality child care
• Extensive and flexible paid leave for survivors care for themselves and their families
• Safe and trauma-informed workplaces that respect and accommodate survivors
• Workforce development programs that create opportunities and provide key supports for survivors
• Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
• A workplace free of sexual harassment and mechanisms to seek justice for harms
• Equal pay for all survivors in any job or workplace
• Accessible social safety nets that provide quality supports
• Accessible tax credits that help provide a temporary boost in financial security
• Cash Assistance to enhance survivors’ stability, safety, and economic security

At FUTURES, we believe it is essential to increase the economic opportunities for survivors of gender-based violence and for vulnerable populations as a violence prevention strategy.