The economic dimensions of interpersonal violence - libdoc.who.int ...

2. COSTS OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCEsectors of society - as well as differences between direct and indirect costs. Aswith other types of interpersonal violence, there were complex methodologicalissues involved in measuring the economic impact of intimate partner violence.Many, if not most, incidents of intimate partner violence go unreported, and theeffects of such abuse on investments in human capital and productivity insideand outside the home are difficult to estimate. Unsurprisingly, there is a widerange of estimates of the effects of intimate partner violence internationally, andthis literature overlapped considerably with that related to violence againstwomen and domestic violence (Table 3).AustraliaSeveral studies of the economic costs of intimate partner violence have beencarried out in Australia (Laing & Bobic, 2002). A 1998 study in Queenslandinterviewed 20 women who had experienced domestic violence. Using a 3.0%prevalence estimate for severe domestic violence, based on police and hospitalreports, the total annual costs of domestic violence in the province wereestimated at over $106 million. A second study in Queensland included indirectcosts related to women's lost wages due to absenteeism from work, resulting inan estimated $546 million annually. A 1991 study of 40 women in Tasmaniacalculated $8 117 in direct costs and an additional $19 023 in indirect costs -mostly replacement of damaged property - per woman. The Australian Instituteof Criminology (2001) reported annual costs of $14.2 million for refugeaccommodation for victims of intimate partner violence in Australia.CanadaDay (1995) comprehensively calculated the costs of violence against women inCanada, using data from the Statistics Canada Violence against Women Survey,the Canadian Urban Victimization Survey, and the Quebec Health Survey.Including health care costs, policing, legal fees, incarceration, lost earnings andpsychological costs, violence against women cost an estimated $1.2 billion. Inthese calculations, medical and dental visits are assigned a value of $67, aprobable underestimate - so the total costs are likely to be higher than reported.Health Canada (2002) calculates a cost of $1.1 billion just for the direct medicalcosts of violence against women in Canada.Chile and NicaraguaAs a percentage of the gross domestic product, estimates of the costs of intimatepartner violence were considerably higher in low- and middle-income countriesthan in high-income countries. Morrison, Andrew & Orlando (1999) calculatedthe costs of domestic violence against women based on stratified randomsamples of women in Chile and Nicaragua. Based only on the lost productivecapacity of these women, they extrapolated total costs of $1.73 billion in Chileand $32.7 million in Nicaragua.These estimates did not include the "multiplier"effect - i.e. the foregone productivity would have stimulated additional economicactivity. The calculated costs were equivalent to 1.6% of the gross domesticproduct in Nicaragua and 2.0% of the gross domestic product in Chile.19