Summary: The Economic Cost Of Violence Against Women

Statistic’s have suggested violence is perpetrated against women in almost half of all marriages (Domestic Violence).Statistic’s gathered from 1994 indicate domestic violence causes almost 100,000 days of hospitalization, 30,000 emergency room visits, 40,000 trips to the doctor every year, and 50% of all homeless woman and their children are fleeing domestic violence( Domestic Violence).

Although assistance is now available to those who need it, domestic violence is still a problem that must be dealt with. The victims of domestic violence have real problems that need attention, but it seems as if the issues these people face are not top priority. There are multiple things that are going on in a domestic violence situation, but to someone on the outside looking in, the obvious choice would be to get out of the situation and leave.

Domestic violence is a devastating social problem that impacts every sector of our population. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner(USDOJ,2012). Domestic violence can be physical, economic, emotional, sexual, or psychological. Physical domestic violence is an attempt to impose physical injury such as grabbing, slapping, hitting, biting, etc. Physical violence can also be withholding necessary resources to sustain health such as medication, food, sleep, or forcing alcohol or other drug use. Economic abuse is an attempt to make the victim financially dependent. Such as sustaining control over financial resources

Nowadays, domestic violence is still an issue that affects women not only in the United States but all around the world.

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Costs of intimate partner violence against women in the United States.

These two organizations then researched what the cost of this domestic violence is, and found some startling data. They found that victims of domestic violence lose about 8 million days of paid work a year and the cost of the violence is over $8.3 million a year (NCADV) (Violence Prevention). Victims are losing paid days of work, meaning they are not at their job working, which means that work is not getting done. The $8.3 million cost of this violence is from all the medical and mental health care, and loss of productivity of the victims. These victims, most of which are women, are not at their jobs and not being productive, which means the company will ultimately lose money since they have one less person working. Those 8 million days will add up to a lot of time and money lost because of one person, usually a man, deciding to abuse their partner. The health care systems have to help the victims and use precious materials to treat them, which is a loss of money for society and ultimately hurts it. If the violence did not occur, this would not happen, but it does, so society pays the price. Domestic violence is a major problem that hurts women and society, just because they are insignificant and unequal

For centuries domestic violence has been perceived as a private matter private of which the government has not been concerned about nor was it considered the government’s business to intervene on behalf of a battered spouse. The unlawful nature of this failure for state or federal government intervention against this crime contributed to the systematic abuse of women in the family. The traditions, customs, and common law found in both British and American societies continued right up until the last decade of the 20th century and left the battered wives and very frequently, her children, at the mercy of the husband. It wasn’t until the 1990’s when the government began to do something to protect mothers, wives, and lovers from intimate

Domestic violence is a problem in our country with nearly 1 million women experiencing at least one incident of domestic abuse each year, (2009/10 British Crime Survey). Social-program funding is being scrutinized in the current economic climate with doubts as to whether American tax dollars should be used to help victims of domestic violence. Cutting funds for government programs that assist victims of domestic violence is not an option for many reasons. In this essay I will explore some of the many ways these programs help our fellow citizens in order to support the argument for continuing to fund said programs.

In Greenville County, of particular concern, is the incidence of domestic violence. Domestic violence is at an all time high in South Carolina, with the incidence of homicide by domestic partner twice that of the national average (Safe Horizon, 2015). Greenville County‘s domestic violence crimes are highest in the state with over four thousand victims in 2014 alone (The Rule of Thumb: A Five Year Overview of Domestic Violence in South Carolina, 2014). While there is not currently an objective that specifically addresses domestic violence, Healthy People 2020 recognizes that there needs to be a better understanding of this trend. Efforts to prevent domestic violence may focus on changing social norms about the acceptance of violence and education on bullying, dating violence, and sexual violence among youth, as well as learning effective conflict resolutions and coping skills. Healthy People 2020 also recognizes that beyond the immediate health consequences, domestic violence may also have a significant impact on a person’s well-being by contributing to premature death, disability, poor mental health, high medical costs, and loss of productivity

The above costs could only be an estimate as not many domestic abuse cases are reported. Injuries from domestic violence could simply be recorded as accidents at home or slips & trips. Health care facilities being the first people to face the abuse victims, need to be experienced to recognise the signs of abuse and be confident in dealing with these issues. Proper training needs to be in place for this. Therefore

The cause of domestic violence is not too difficult to understand. The reason why people beat their intimate partner is because, one partner feels like they need to be superior against the other. They feel insecure and powerless, so they turn into violent behavior. Big life changed like becoming really ill or women getting pregnant can increase the chance to be in a domestic violence situation. Another reason may be going into debt, being unemployed, or losing something significant to one partner. (Joyful Heart Foundation). When a victim tries to leave, it could make their situation worse. By failing to leave the victim might feel more abandoned and hopeless. If we don’t change our ways, the situation will get worse. Statistics from domestic abuse have increased in mostly every end each year. If we don’t stop it, it will just increase and increase until somebody decides to change it. In the 1990’s there would be thousands or hundred thousands of victims. Now, each minute about 20-24 people are victims of physical violence. Which account for 12 million cases in a stretch of a year in the United States only. Now the question is how are we going to solve this.

At a national level, the costs of domestic violence are enormous. Access Economics estimated the cost of domestic violence in Australia at $8.1 billion in 2002-03, including $3.5 billion in costs attributable to pain, suffering and premature mortality. The National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and Children (NCRVWC) estimated that violence against women and their children, including both domestic and non-domestic violence, cost the Australian economy $13.6 billion in 2009. Without action to address violence against women and their children, an estimated three-quarters of a million Australian women will experience and report violence in the period of 2021–2022, costing the Australian economy around $15.6 billion, with domestic violence accounting for $9.9 billion of this figure, including $3.9 billion attributable to pain, suffering and premature death. On an individual level, domestic violence creates complex economic issues for women and their children and disrupts their lives over the short and long term.

Domestic abuse in the United States is a large-scale and complex social and health problem. The home is the most violent setting in America today (Lay, 1994). Sadly enough, the majority of people who are murdered are not likely killed by a stranger during a hold-up or similar crime but are killed by someone they know. Not surprisingly, the Center for Disease Control and prevention has identified interpersonal violence as a major public health problem (Velson-Friedrich, 1994). Current estimates suggest that three to four million women are the victims of physical abuse by their intimate partners (Harris & Cook, 1994). According to the FBI, some form of domestic violence occurs in half of the homes in the United States at least once a

Domestic violence is skyrocketing in our society. In the U.S., as many as 1.5 million women and 850,000 men were physically assaulted by their intimate partner last year, and numerous children abused by their parents. These sad criminal acts will continue to grow in our society, unless our community takes action to stop these crimes.

In a study conducted by Hines and Saudino (2002), domestic violence in close, intimate relationships is a country wide problem within the United States. The last nationally conducted survey found that an estimated 16 percent of married Americans experienced domestic violence within the previous year. That means that approximately 8.7 million couples have been affected by domestic violence (Hines, Saudino 2002).