TDH Booklet4 - Texas Association Against Sexual Assault

FOREWARD - Call To Action
Ninety percent of all rapes
are planned and, in 87
percent of the cases the
assailant either carried a
weapon or threatened the
victim with death or bodily
injury if she resisted.
Texas Association Against Sexual Assault
& Texas Office of the Attorney General
At least 80 percent of
stalkers are men who are
primarily targeting
women. These men are
young to middle-aged,
with above average
intelligence.
Because health care costs
account for more than
two-thirds of total cost
estimates, clearly the
public health sector must
take action.
Many factors interact that
contribute to the ongoing
pervasive existence of
these forms of violence,
making it difficult to
pinpoint where and how
to end it.
attention in a high percentage of both sexual and physical assaults
and intimate partners are most likely to commit the violence. 9
NVAWS report authors find violence against women endemic in the
United States and a major public health concern with important
policy implications. 10
While most females who are assaulted survive the violence,
men kill many women each year. According to 2001 reported data,
intimate partners murdered nearly one woman per day in the
United States. 11 In Texas, males took the lives of 113 females in
2001 producing a state homicide rate well above the national
average; 91 percent of the men knew the females they killed. 12 In
2002 intimate partners killed more than two women every week in
Texas. 13 While a system for estimating statewide costs of violence
against women has not been developed, a recent national analysis
of intimate partner violence (including homicides) yields evidence of
the economic scope of the problem.
Costs
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a
report in March 2003 analyzing NVAWS data and estimating the
costs of intimate partner violence, 14 including lifetime earnings for
fatalities derived from FBI homicide data. 15 They found that costs of
intimate partner rape, physical assault and stalking exceed $5.8
billion per year, with nearly $4.1 billion going for direct medical
and mental health care. 16 In addition, the report estimates nearly
$0.9 billion in lost productivity from nonfatal domestic violence, and
$0.9 billion in lost lifetime earnings by those women killed by
intimate partner violence. 17 These costs reflect only those derived
from reliable data sources. The actual costs are very likely much
higher, including untold intangible costs. 18 Because health care costs
account for more than two-thirds of total cost estimates, clearly the
public health sector must take action. However, the complexity of
the issues involved presents challenges that go beyond any specific
sector.
Complexity
Violence against women, while increasingly treated as a
singular phenomenon, really involves many layers. First, it is
difficult to classify, sometimes encompassing forced pornography,
prostitution, forms of slavery, trafficking and other exploitation not
reflected in sexual assault, domestic violence and/or stalking
definitions. 19 In addition, children, elders and people living with
disabilities of both sexes are often times extremely vulnerable to the
same abuses categorized as violence against women. Of course,
15 A STRATEGIC PLAN TO PREVENT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN TEXAS