BEYOND PHYSICAL ABUSE: EXAMINING THE SCOPE OF ECONOMIC ABUSE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005

When domestic violence is discussed, legal and social discourse traditionally prioritizes visible physical battery, severe bodily harm, or criminal force. However, for millions of women across diverse socio-economic strata, the most pervasive and paralyzing form of domestic subordination involves no physical violence at all. Economic abuse operates as a systematic, structural mechanism of coercion that strips women of financial autonomy, prevents access to economic resources, and traps them in abusive domestic settings through financial captivity. This research paper presents a comprehensive legal, comparative, and empirical analysis of the scope, statutory interpretation, and judicial application of "economic abuse" under Section 3(iv) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA). The authors examine how the PWDVA broke away from traditional penal remedies by codifying financial deprivation, control over shared resources, and alienation of stridhan as distinct civil wrongs. By synthesizing landmark Supreme Court rulings including Rajnesh v. Neha, Prabha Tyagi v. Kamlesh Devi, Satish Chander Ahuja v. Sneha Ahuja, Ganesh v. Sudhanya, and Shalu Ojha v. Prashant Ojha alongside comparative frameworks from the UK, Australia, the US, and South Africa, this paper evaluates the systemic barriers in proving economic abuse. Furthermore, an expanded Four-Tier Judicial Evaluation & Forensic Financial Matrix is introduced to assist Magistrates in evaluating hidden assets, preventing procedural delays, detecting digital economic coercion, and executing monetary reliefs effectively.