Is it still abuse if he never hit me but controls all our money?
Last updated: 2026-08-10 · Educational content; not legal advice.
Short answer
Yes — controlling your money is named economic abuse on its own. RA 9262 §3(D) defines economic abuse as acts that make or attempt to make a woman financially dependent, and lists controlling her own money or property, or solely controlling conjugal money or property, as one of the specific acts. No physical violence is required for this form to apply.
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Frequently asked
What else counts as economic abuse besides controlling money?
§3(D) also names withdrawing financial support or preventing legitimate employment (with one narrow exception — see LabanPH's answer on being stopped from working), depriving you or threatening to deprive you of financial resources and the right to use shared property, and destroying household property.
Does it matter whether the money is 'mine' or 'ours'?
§3(D)'s money-controlling provision covers both — a woman's own money or property, and conjugal money or property, are both named as covered.
Does threatening to cut me off financially count the same as actually doing it?
For part of this, yes — §3(D)(2) covers deprivation or the threat of deprivation of financial resources and the right to use shared property, so a credible threat can qualify before he acts on it. That threat language is specific to that limb; it isn't stated for the money-controlling limb.
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Whether what's happening even counts as abuse under RA 9262 — psychological violence without a hand ever being raised, economic control, threats, and the reach of the law beyond marriage and beyond your front door.