Many people who are suffering economic abuse might not even realise they are victims, not-for-profit lender Good Shepherd says.It and the National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges have made a series of recommendations to push for reform to help prevent and respond to cases of economic abuse."We need to stop treating economic abuse like a hardship or budgeting problem, and instead recognise it as a long-term driver of inequality, hardship, and intergenerational harm in Aotearoa," said Tania Pouwhare, chief executive of Good Shepherd New Zealand.She said economic abuse referred to family violence that used coercive, controlling or threatening behaviour to restrict or remove a person's financial freedom.It could involve controlling their spending, sabotaging their job, or building debt in their name.Research indicated that 15 percent of women who had ever been in a relationship had experienced some sort of domestic abuse.But Pouwhare said it was rarely recognised or responded to as a form of family violence.The organisations are calling for measures including that victims not be held responsible for paying debt that was caused by family violence.They want the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act amended to address weaponisation of joint financial obligations, including clarification that a joint borrower was not required to agree to changes to joint obligations if they were caused by coercion.They want the definition of economic abuse added to the legal definition of violence in the Family Violence Act.They also want grants for survivors and the law to be changed to stop them being prosecuted for benefit fraud if they claim the sole parent benefit while experiencing family violence from their intimate partner.They want Inland Revenue to prioritise the victim if there is a conflict over a child support claim, and for them to be eligible for non-means tested non-recoverable legal aid.Good Shepherd policy and engagement lead Brittany Goodwin.Supplied / Good ShepherdGood Shepherd policy and engagement lead Brittany Goodwin said the aim was to have more consistency."Some of this can already happen, but it requires financial services, credit providers, whoever, to bend the rules a little bit because it's not really explicit or proactive or clear in a lot of legislation how to deal with economic abuse because it's just been so not recognised, so a lot of this is about clarity and ensuring that, we shouldn't have to have banks or financial service providers bend or break the rules in order to help vulnerable people, you know, that's not the point."She said MPs with relevant portfolios would be sent letters, as well as ministers."It's the pre-election period, so we're pragmatic that this is going to be a long game and the intent for this is not to just be a pre-election thing, this is going to carry on, so we're thinking we'll try to gain as much support and also just raise awareness."That is still such a big part of this puzzle, making sure that the public knows, because still so many clients who come through our doors don't understand that what they're experiencing is economic abuse, they just don't have the words for it, so that awareness-raising part is still a huge part of it."Presbyterian Support Northern chief executive Shaun Greaves.Supplied / Presbyterian Support NorthernShaun Greaves, chief executive of Presbyterian Support Northern and Shine, said: "For many victim-survivors, the choice to leave an abusive partner is constrained by financial issues caused by family violence. If they do leave, these issues continue to constrain their choices and safety while they try to find safe housing, put in place legal orders, get access to essentials like food, meet healthcare needs, get access to emergency benefits or maintain employment, and more."Good Shepherd estimated it cost about $10,000 for people to separate from an abusive partner.Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds, a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make, spend and invest money.