How organizations can play a bigger part in reducing domestic violence

Lucy came to work with bruises and said she slipped. Her colleagues knew better, work was her only safe place, and continued to treat her with the respect and dignity she deserves they said, when you’re ready to leave, we are here. And one day with their help, she did. Lucy’s story is not rare. It isn’t always obvious. But it is always about control, coercive control, a strategic pattern of behaviours designed to isolate, dominate, and entrap someone over time. Abuse is not defined by a single moment. It is the slow erosion of freedom, safety and self-worth. Far beyond bruising.

The purpose is always the same: to remove autonomy. It affects partners, elders, and people across every socioeconomic group. And it’s not improving. Around the world, demand for support is outpacing supply, turning people away and forced back into danger (the choice is often violence or poverty). Technology is creating new forms of surveillance and harassment. Harmful gender ideologies are spreading faster through social media and violent pornography.

In Australia, research shows that women who earn more than their male partners face a 33% increase in partner violence and a 20% increase in emotional abuse. This is systemic. The social and economic cost is staggering. Globally, violence against women, primarily domestic and intimate partner violence, costs around 2% of the world’s GDP, or approximately US $2 trillion. (Imagine other forms of domestic abuse?). Direct costs include healthcare, justice systems, lost wages and child protection. Indirect costs are equally destructive: careers stall, productivity declines, and people leave the workforce. Public services stretch thin. When employees and customers are forced to hide, companies lose more than headcount. They lose loyalty, capability and growth. If you’re a boss here’s some thing you can do for your customers and community:

Training:

• Train frontline teams in banking, telcos, insurance and government services to recognise coercive control and escalate safely. We’re seeing this across airlines, hospitality and healthcare.
• Use your customer channels to promote helplines and safety resources, such as CommBank Financial Abuse resource centre.

Customer / product development

• Audit systems for harm and coercive control touchpoints: Can one partner drain joint accounts, cancel insurance, or access private data without consent? Small changes can prevent hard.
• Design safer customer experiences: Silent help buttons, exit pathways, and privacy features allow people to access support discreetly.
• Prevent financial abuse through product design: Build alerts for unusual transactions, block offensive transaction labels, and limit unauthorised changes on shared accounts

Partnerships

• Partner with survivor-led organisations such as the Centre for Women’s Economic Safety or Arise Foundation to co-design services and escalation protocols that are trauma-informed and practical.

What else can companies do for their employees? Here’s some ideas:

Onboarding and training

• Signal safety from day one: allow salary-splitting into two accounts and offer discreet contact preferences.
• Embed training in onboarding with additional training for managers and to spot signs and respond safely, (e.g. dv alert) and emotional intelligence programs embedded into leadership development programs (mandatory for promotions)

Policy and operations

• Make paid domestic violence leave visible and safe to use (e.g. in Australia government mandated leave of 10 days )
• Offer workplace adjustments in hours, duties and location to give people flexibility when navigating risk.
• Be transparent on pay and promotion pathways so progression is built on skill, not bias. (It will detract your average B and C players, and keep A players)

Strategy and Purpose

• Build recovery pathways by employing, mentoring or upskilling people rebuilding after abuse with organisations such as Arise Foundation. These roles bring resilience and capability into your workforce.
• Match staff contributions to domestic violence organisations and embed giving programs.
• Pay survivors to share their expertise at training, leadership events or offsites. Their voices shape better strategy than policies drafted in isolation.

Even when someone escapes, they are not always safe. Post-separation abuse is common. It includes financial sabotage, stalking, and legal retaliation. If your company touches money, mobility, privacy or power, then you are already part of this story, but you can become part of the solution. The competitive advantage? reduced turnover, trusting relationships with customers, higher engagement, risk management, reputational capital.

So, ask yourself. Who are we designing for, and who gets left behind. And how do we let someone know: when you’re ready, we’ll help you leave.

Written by Vinisha Rathod.

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