Economic Justice In Practice: Comparing and Bridging Organizational Approaches to Financial Empowerment for Latinx Immigrant Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Background and Purpose: Economic abuse is a pervasive yet underexamined dimension of intimate partner violence (IPV) that frequently co-occurs with other forms of abuse, with estimates that up to 94-99% of survivors experience financial control or exploitation, particularly among help-seeking populations. These challenges are especially acute among Latinx immigrant survivors, for whom economic abuse is often intensified by immigration-related dependency, precarious labor conditions, and cultural and familial norms that constrain financial autonomy and help-seeking. While prior research has focused primarily on survivors’ experiences, less attention has been paid to how service providers operationalize economic justice in practice. Grounded in intersectionality and trauma-informed care frameworks, this study asks how mainstream and Latinx community-based organizations conceptualize and implement financial empowerment. Beyond comparison, the study aims to identify distinct and complementary organizational approaches and generate practice-informed insights on how these models can be bridged to strengthen economic justice interventions and long-term financial stability.

Methods: This qualitative study employed a phenomenological design to examine service providers’ lived experiences working with Latinx immigrant IPV survivors. Participants were recruited across New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania using purposive and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with service providers from mainstream (N=6) and Latinx community-based organizations (N=12), exploring providers’ experiences and organizational practices related to economic empowerment. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis in ATLAS.ti, followed by a comparative analytic approach to identify differences, complementary strengths, and opportunities for integration across organizational contexts.

Results: Findings revealed two distinct yet complementary approaches to economic justice practice. Latinx organizations implemented culturally grounded, community-based models emphasizing gradual, survivor-centered financial empowerment through entrepreneurship initiatives, multimodal expressive programming, peer role modeling, and holistic healing activities that foster trust and financial stability. In contrast, mainstream organizations primarily offered structured, employment-focused services, including immediate financial assistance, financial literacy, employment readiness, and job placement, addressing survivors’ urgent needs and workforce integration. Across contexts, providers emphasized that cultural context and intergenerational trauma shape survivors’ relationships with money, economic abuse, and help-seeking. These approaches were not mutually exclusive but reflected complementary strengths, highlighting the need to integrate culturally grounded, trust-based engagement with structured economic resources and employment pathways. Promising strategies included cross-sector collaboration, coordinated service delivery, and embedding economic empowerment within holistic, trauma-informed frameworks.

Conclusions and Implications: Organizational context plays a critical role in shaping economic justice-oriented IPV interventions and underscores the importance of bridging distinct service models. Integrating culturally specific, community-based approaches with structured economic and employment services may offer more comprehensive and sustainable pathways to financial empowerment for Latinx immigrant survivors. This study advances social work research by demonstrating how integrated, equity-oriented service models can better respond to complex forms of IPV. Implications for social work practice include strengthening cross-organizational collaboration, expanding culturally responsive programming within mainstream settings, and integrating economic empowerment into trauma-informed care. Policy implications include increasing funding for collaborative, culturally specific service models and addressing structural barriers related to immigration status and access to stable employment. These findings offer directions for advancing equity-driven IPV interventions and economic justice.