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Economic empowerment programs (EEPs) are increasingly used to promote gender equality and reduce intimate partner violence (IPV) in high-income countries. EEPs typically emphasize financial literacy and vocational development as key mechanisms for supporting survivors’ economic autonomy and safety. While evidence on EEP effectiveness is accumulating, less attention has been paid to how these programs are implemented in practice, including the modifications and adaptations made to enhance uptake and outcomes. Moreover, systematic documentation is limited on whether and how EEPs are culturally adapted to racially and ethnically minoritized survivors, with important implications for equity. This scoping review examines implementation adaptations to EEPs for IPV survivors, the types and levels of adaptations reported, and the extent to which culturally responsive adaptations are documented.
Method
The review examines peer-reviewed empirical studies published between 1994 and 2024 that evaluate EEPs for IPV survivors, with particular attention to financial literacy and vocational development components. Using keywords such as “economic empowerment,” “program,” and “intimate partner violence,” along with their variants, we searched Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Social Service Abstracts, Scopus, and Web of Science. This process yielded 455 unique records. Studies were eligible if they were conducted in high-income countries as defined by the World Bank; 22 articles met the inclusion criteria. Data extraction and synthesis were guided by the Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications–Enhanced (FRAME), a structured coding tool designed to document adaptations to evidence‑based interventions in real‑world settings. We selected FRAME to capture program modifications, with the intention of generating insights to inform future implementation of EEPs.
Results
Across 22 studies, we identified four distinct curricula: Moving Ahead Through Financial Management; Advancing Career Counseling and Employment Support for Survivors; Realizing Your Economic Action Plan; and two holistic service models, the Chesapeake Crisis to Self-Sufficiency Model and the Nia Imani Model of Care. These EEPS aimed to strengthen survivors’ financial independence through education and employment while reducing economic dependence on abusive partners. Many service recipients had racially and ethnically marginalized backgrounds, including Latina/Hispanic, African American, Australian Aboriginal, and refugee women. Only seven studies described modifications to intervention content, delivery, or implementation. Rather than core content, reported adaptations often occurred during delivery and targeted the facilitator, program, and organizational levels through changes to format, pacing, scheduling, eligibility criteria, childcare, and transportation. Most adaptations were fidelity‑consistent and motivated by survivor safety, readiness, and structural constraints. Cultural adaptations were infrequently reported. Although equity and cultural relevance were commonly cited, few studies explicitly described language access, culturally specific content, or adaptations addressing immigration‑related and structural barriers. When reported, cultural adaptations extended beyond translation to include relational and contextual tailoring to support survivor engagement.
Implications
Findings suggest the need to systematically document program adaptations with IPV service systems, particularly culturally responsive modifications. Strengthening implementation infrastructure and requiring transparent reporting of adaptations will enhance equity, interpretability of outcomes, and the feasibility of replication and scale‑up. Future research should prospectively examine how specific adaptation types, especially cultural adaptations, influence engagement, economic outcomes, and survivor safety.