According to 7 Online, "Scandal" actress Kerry Washington is doing her best to address the issue of domestic violence that has recently arisen due to multiple controversial domestic violence cases in the NFL. The Huffington Post reports that Kerry is the spokeswoman of the Allstate Foundation's "Purple Purse" campaign, which is meant to draw attention to the role of money in abusive relationships.

This past Monday night, the Emmy-nominated actress launched the "Purple Purse" campaign in New York. Washington says she designed the purse as a symbol of financial freedom for victims of domestic abuse. She said, "The purple purse is really a symbol for the economic strength of a woman to be able to take her purse strings back and take care of herself and her family. So it's really exciting because it's bringing attention around financial abuse," conveying her passion for the subject.

Washington stated, "[Financial abuse] is the reason why so many people stay... that whole hashtag #WhyIStayed that happened last week, you saw how many of those responses were about feeling trapped financially," pointing out that financial entrapment is more crippling than people might think.

Financial abuse is 'invisible' in a way; there is no violence involved, but it can be used to control and isolate partners. For example, abusers can limit the amount of money their partner has access to in order to prevent them from fleeing the relationship. Furthermore, they may sabotage their partners by piling up debt under their names.

Washington told the Huffington Post, "I think people just aren't as aware of financial abuse... If a woman isn't even aware of the dynamics of financial abuse - what it looks like, what it is - she may not even know that that's part of the tools being used to control her and manipulate her and keep her trapped. When there is more information around it, people can begin to identify it and get the help they need," further conveying the importance of spreading knowledge about financial abuse to the public.