Introduction
One in three women worldwide is beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused, mostly by her male intimate partner (WHO, 2013, p.2 & UNODC, 2013, p.13), in the course of her lifetime. When combined with sexual violence against women by non-partners as well, this goes up to 35% (WHO, 2013, p.2).
Violence against women is a fundamental human rights violation, rooted in unjust and unequal power and gender relations and structures in our societies. These are upheld by rigid and unjust social, economic, legal and cultural norms that determine a woman’s, often unequal, role in her home, her community and her workplace. Violence against women is a form of gender-based violence, which is “a harmful act or threat based on a person’s sex or gender identity. It includes physical, sexual and psychological abuse, coercion, denial of liberty and economic deprivation whether occurring in public or private spheres.” (CARE, 2015, p.1). Evidence has found that communities with higher levels of violence against women share the following expressions of gender inequality: condoning of violence against women; men’s control of decision-making and limits to women’s independence; rigid gender roles and identities; and male peer relations that emphasize aggression and disrespect towards women (Our Watch, 2015, p.8).
Millions of women have died, been disabled and suffered psychological trauma as a result of this violence. Women and their families bear the highest burden of social and economic costs, including shame and stigma. It affects their participation in education, employment, civic life and politics, and impedes their access and control over resources – increasing poverty and inequality. Patriarchal institutions and systems that view violence against women as a ‘private problem’ have meant that this violence is often made invisible, resulting in solutions being under-funded, including by governments and private companies. But as this report shows, governments also bear a significant burden of costs in terms of service delivery, as do companies in lost productivity in the workplace.
The fact that violence against women is a fundamental human rights violation is, in itself, sufficient justification for action. Understanding the cost of violence against women provides additional arguments and evidence for why preventing and responding to violence against women should be a top priority. This report is also, therefore, an urgent call to governments,6 donors and the private sector to prioritize and make budgetary allocations to prevent and address this violation. The costs can also be saved when violence is prevented in the first place (primary prevention). Investing in the prevention of violence is a cost-effective approach for states: studies show, for instance, that by investing in the effective implementation of behavioural, legal and regulatory solutions, states will save on the cost of responding to violence (Laxminarayan et al., 2006, p.48).
Some governments and donors are already making efforts to cost interventions as well as adopt gender-responsive budgeting to assess how public resources are allocated and spent to tackle violence against women.7 The results from these efforts provide policymakers with direction on how resources could be best allocated and mobilized towards violence prevention.
Drawing from 13 studies – three of them conducted by CARE International in Bangladesh (2011), Zambia (2017) and Cambodia (2017) – this report presents the economic costs of violence against women in relation to its impact on and the rates of violence against women in these countries.
While some of the costing studies captured both social and economic costs of this violence, only the economic costs (such as direct and indirect costs incurred for medical and legal fees as well as loss of income due to illness or injury)8 are reflected here. This report further discusses CARE’s experiences with costing violence and provides illustrative examples of types of costs and lessons learned on process. It also presents costs of solutions where available. It concludes with urgent calls to action for government, donors and the private sector.