Intersectionality of Marital Separation and Economic Abuse: A Continuous Economic Dependency

This study employs a feminist explanation of marriage alongside an intersectional approach to explore the social forces that sustain economic abuse not only during marriage but also long after separation, by focusing on Palestinian Arab women in Israel—a socially and ethnically marginalized group. Using a qualitative method, the findings revealed two outcomes: First, the patriarchal social context in which marriage, gender roles, and divorce occurred blurred the distinction between normative and abusive actions. Second, the cumulative effects of continuous economic abuse were intensified in the face of intersectional marginalities of gender, ethnicity, and class, which shaped women's chances of recovery.