This edition of the newsletter is focused on provided you with a selection of resources outlining the various approaches to assessing the total cost of sexual violence in our society. There are links to national as well as state-by-state resources below, and we hope that you will read how researchers and advocates have framed this issue and used the information to advocate for survivors and services in their communities.
ARTICLES
Costs of Sexual Violence, by Evelyn Larsen, Resource Sharing Project
Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States: Executive Summary
Although most people believe intimate partner violence (IPV) is a substantial public health problem in the United States, few agree on its magnitude. Recognizing the need to better measure both the scope of the problem of IPV as well as resulting economic costs-in particular, those related to health care-Congress funded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct a study to obtain national estimates of the occurrence of IPV-related injuries, to estimate their costs to the health care system, and to recommend strategies to prevent IPV and its consequences. This report:
- Describes briefly the development of the requested study;
- Presents findings for the estimated incidence, prevalence, and costs of nonfatal and fatal IPV;
- Identifies future research needs;
- Highlights CDC's research priorities for IPV prevention.
Click here for the entire report.
Hidden Costs in Healthcare: the Impacts of Violence and Abuse
Every year millions of Americans are exposed to violence and abuse as victims, witnesses, and perpetrators. Violence and abuse occur in all age groups, at all socioeconomic levels, and throughout all of society's structure. It is obvious that these experiences impose a direct economic burden on the healthcare system. What has been less obvious is the even greater cost due to the long-term health consequences of such experiences. These long-term negative health consequences are increasingly being recognized as major health con- cerns and the true cost to the health care system may reach hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
Healthcare Costs of Domestic and Sexual Violence, Futures without Violence
Domestic, dating and sexual violence are costly and pervasive problems in this country, causing victims, as well as witnesses and bystanders, in every community to suffer incalculable pain and loss. On average, more than four women a day are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States and women experience two million injuries from intimate partner violence each year. In addition to the devastating human trauma, this violence costs our health care, criminal justice, education, child welfare and other systems, as well as diminishing worker productivity. The United States has made progress in the last few decades in addressing this violence, resulting in welcome declines3 - but there is more work to do be done.
Victim Cost and Consequences: A New Look, National Institute of Justice Research Report, 1996. Ted R. Miller, Mark A. Cohen, Brian Wiersema
This Research Report documents the results of a 2-year multidisciplinary research effort to estimate the costs and consequences of personal crime for Americans. Personal crime is estimated to cost $105 billion annually in medical costs, lost earnings, and public program costs related to vic- tim assistance. These tangible losses do not account for the full impact of crime on victims, however, because they ig- nore pain, suffering, and lost quality of life. Including pain, suffering, and the reduced quality of life increases the cost of crime to victims to an estimated $450 billion annually. Violent crime (including drunk driving and arson) accounts for $426 billion of this total, property crime $24 billion. These estimates exclude several crimes that were not in- cluded in this study but that also have large impacts, nota- bly many forms of white collar crime (including personal fraud) and drug crimes.
Click here for the entire report.
The Calculation of Damages in Sexual Abuse Cases, Matthew Foss
This article was originally published in the autumn 1999 issue of the Expert Witness.
In the last decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of sexual assault victims who have sued their abusers in tort. The purpose of this article is to offer a brief review of the academic literature concerning the impact of abuse on the victim's psychological well-being, education, and earning capacity. A second article, to be published in the next issue of this newsletter will discuss the response of the courts to these lawsuits.
OTHER RESOURCES
The Rape Tax: Tangible and Intangible Costs of Sexual Violence, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 17, No 7, 773-782 (2002) DOI: 10.1177/0886260502017007005 2002 Sage Publications. The authors estimate that the tangible and intangible cost of rape in Michigan in 1996 as more than $6.5 Billion. If it was equally divided between the citizens of Michigan each would have paid $700 to cover the costs of rape within their state in that year; a "rape tax".
Cost of Sexual Violence in Minnesota This report states that the cost of sexual violence was almost $8 Billion in 2005 and that excludes some victims such as those incarcerated whose experiences of victimization contributed to their criminal activity and a number of intangible costs such as the price of increased fear and mistrust in communities as well as security systems and alarms.
Sexual Violence Basics: How Much Does Sexual Violence Cost? A quick, easy to read reference sheet put out by the Minnesota Department of Health
Economic Costs of Sexual Assault Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault. This article details sexual violence statistics, costs of the violence and the impact on the victim.
A Considerable Sacrifice: The Cost of Sexual Violence in the U.S. Armed Forces This article details the frequency of sexual violence in the Armed Forces, the challenge of serving victims and the cost of this victimization.
Connections A bi-annual publication of the Washington Coalition of sexual Assault programs. This issue addresses the high cost of sexual violence.
Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence This website has a number of articles addressing the cost of violence in the workplace.
The Effects and Costs of Intimate Partner Violence for Work Organizations Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 22, No. 3, 327-344 (2007) DOI: 10.1177/0886260506295382, 2007 Sage Publications This research examines productivity-related effects and other costs associated with intimate partner violence.
This newsletter has been edited from its orignial format and content as content has been relocated and unable to be found from orginal link source.
