A/74/148 punishment and, where it involves the intentional and purposeful or discriminatory infliction of severe suffering on a powerless person, amounts to torture. E. Economic violence 35. In the context of domestic violence, economic or financial violence rarely happens in isolation from other patterns of abuse. It involves the use or misuse of money or other resources so as to limit, control or coerce a person ’s actions. It can include, for example, interference with a person’s ability to acquire, use and maintain material resources, such as money and means of transportation. It tends to centre on creating and abusing economic dependency on the perpetrator. It can leave victims with no funds for basic essentials, such as food and clothing, and with no access to any independent income and can isolate them and proliferate their abuse, thus causing severe suffering and lasting harm. 39 36. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, economic violence can cause significant suffering and can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and, when such abuse is intentional, purposeful or discriminatory and inflicts severe suffering on a powerless person, amounts to torture. F. Serious neglect 37. Serious neglect involves the refusal or failure of a caregiver to meet the basic needs of a person in their care. Serious neglect can include the failure to protect a person from harm or to provide them with food or clothing, chronic inattention, exposure to violence between others or drug or alcohol abuse, withholding of essential medical care, or abandonment. 40 It may or may not involve an intention to inflict physical or emotional suffering. In some States, serious neglect is the most common form of child abuse and is a highly prevalent form of elder abuse. 41 Frequently, serious neglect will occur in combination with other forms of abuse. Besides children and elderly dependents, persons with disabilities can be in a particularly vulnerable position in respect of such abuse. 38. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, serious neglect can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and, where it involves the intentional and purposeful or discriminatory infliction of severe suffering on a powerless person, to torture. G. Female genital mutilation 39. Female genital mutilation describes “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons”. 42 It is estimated that more than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation in the countries where the practice is concentrated. Furthermore, there are an estimated 3 million girls at risk __________________ 39 40 41 42 19-11892 R.J. Voth Schrag, S.R. Robinson and K. Ravi, “Understanding Pathways within Intimate Partner Violence: Economic Abuse, Economic Hardship and Mental Health”, in Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, November 2018. See, e.g., European Court of Human Rights, Z. and others v. United Kingdom, App. No. 29392/95, 10 May 2001. WHO, World report on violence and health (Geneva, 2002), chap. 5. World Health Organization, Eliminating female genital mutilation: an interagency statement – OHCHR, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNECA, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, WHO (Geneva, 2008), p. 4. 13/23