Domestic Violence and Economics
by Kelly M. Glenn
Regardless of whether you have been a victim, are a victim, know a victim, or are in the very rare category of not experiencing domestic violence first or secondhand, domestic violence affects everyone.
According to the 2005 study Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States, “The costs of intimate partner rape, physical assault, and stalking exceed $5.8 billion each year.” The breakdown of those costs are largely contributed to the cost of medical and mental health care, with costs due to other reasons falling far behind:
- nearly $4.1 billion goes toward direct medical and mental health care services;
- nearly $0.9 billion is attributed to lost productivity from paid work and household chores for victims of nonfatal Intimate Partner Violence; and
- nearly $0.9 billion in lifetime earnings are lost by victims of Intimate Partner homicide.1
In the study of 4,450,807 physical assaults by intimate partners, 1,847,085, or 41.5%, involved injuries to the victim. Of those injured, 519,031 required medical care. “The majority of women who were injured…sustained relatively minor injuries, such as scratches, bruises, and welts…More serious types of injuries [included]…lacerations, broken bones, dislocated joints, head or spinal cord injuries, chipped or broken teeth, or internal injuries.”1 With that said, 407,958 victims required hospital care.
When broken down per incident, “the total medical and mental health care cost per victimization by an intimate partner was $838 per rape, $816 per physical assault, and $294 per stalking.”1
Given the strains of overall health care costs on our economic system and the role domestic violence plays in those costs, it’s to our collective benefit for everyone to invest in eliminating domestic violence.
Sources
1National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2003.
Suggested Citation for this Article
Glenn, K.M., Criminal Justice Know How, LLC, October 2020, Domestic Violence and Economics. https://criminaljusticeknowhow.com/domestic-violence-and-economics/.
