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Hello and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. I'm Felicity Hannah.

Today we're talking about economic or financial abuse within a relationship.

This is where someone controls your income, your spending, your bank accounts, even borrowing.

It may not leave bruises, but it can cause serious harm.

Financially, I was controlled by him because he was the one with the money and I was working

with him so I didn't have anything of my own. Most often, the victims of economic abuse are

women and they often feel trapped

in dangerous relationships. In many countries around the world, women are earning more,

launching businesses and becoming more economically powerful than previous generations. But that can

put them at even greater risk. Women now are becoming doctors, lawyers, they're earning more money and therefore

that's going to increase economic abuse. So what can be done to help people who are victims of

economic abuse? That's all coming up on today's Business Daily. One of the main challenges

with economic abuse is that it can be difficult to even recognise when you're living with it.

So it started very similar to a normal relationship, no red flags.

Here's a woman we're calling Mary. It's not her real name.

She's based in the UK and experienced financially controlling and coercive abuse at the hands of her husband,

alongside violence and other controlling behaviour. I just want to warn you that her interview is

quite upsetting to listen to at times. She began by telling me how the relationship started.

We just had a good time, fell in love, all the things that you normally do in a relationship.

And it wasn't until probably a good six months or so in that things started to change.

And it was just a few little things that initially, a few crosswords, a few horrible things said to me.

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