Since 2016, Good Shepherd Ireland has been running a No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) based on the model of a similar NILS offered by Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, providing financial assistance to vulnerable communities. 

NILSs aim to counter reliance on money lenders by those that are financially excluded through the provision of affordable loans and financial literacy.

This innovative model based on trust and empowerment, partners with public facing organisations working with specific target groups such as migrants and refugees, those experiencing homelessness and those affected by gender-based violence (GBV).

During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence we reflect on how NILS is working to support women affected by GBV and financial abuse.

Here, Sandra (not her real name), a GBV survivor and NILs client tells her story of escaping an abusive partner.

“Domestic abuse was a prominent feature of my marriage, although it took many years, firstly to acknowledge what was happening, and then many more years to seek help to escape the abuse. When I finally went to the police, they decided to investigate my husband for coercive control – a form of domestic abuse that takes many different forms, including physical, sexual, emotional, and financial abuse.

The No Interest Loan Scheme played an enormous role in helping me with the financial abuse that I experienced. Unless someone has experienced coercive and controlling behavior, it is very difficult to explain the impact this has on one’s everyday life.

My husband controlled all finances. We never had a joint bank account, and I had to ask him for everything. When I finally went for help, a lot of doors were closed to me. I was advised to seek government assistance, but because he was still living in our house, I was assessed on his means and, therefore, was entitled to nothing.

I felt alone and abandoned by a society that still does not want to believe that gender-based violence exists in Ireland today.

For many years, I had desperately wanted to return to college and further my education, but I did not even have a laptop to research courses. A prominent feature of the abuse I experienced was online stalking, and I learned that my abuser was monitoring my phone through spyware.

NILS provided me with a loan to purchase a laptop. I cannot begin to describe the changes this made to my life. Up to that point, my world had been very small, and I had no safe way to interact with the outside world. NILS helped provide me with a safe space – away from my phone – that I could begin to learn online in secret and equip myself with the knowledge and support I needed to build a new life for my children and I away from my abusive husband.

Using my new laptop, I started a course online and, after two years, received a postgraduate qualification, which led to me getting my first job outside the home in over a decade. If NILS had not provided that support and trust for GBV survivors, I would not have been able to access further education and secure employment, and I would not have had access to online support for victims of domestic abuse. NILS set my family and me on the path to a new life that is peaceful and safe.

I will always be so grateful for the loan to purchase a laptop when so many other avenues were closed to me. NILS opened a door for me when it felt like the only viable option was to go back to my abuser.

I hope that my story will encourage women who feel forgotten to know that there is help and support to escape gender-based violence.”