Societal consequences of sexual assault

An update of this section is due in 2025.

  • Sexual assault has consequences not only for the victim, but also for society as a whole through the associated social and economic costs.
    • Social costs correspond to all of the non-monetary consequences of criminal acts, including the consequences for the perpetrator and the victim and their families and friends as well as those affecting society as a whole. The societal consequences of sexual assault, like other types of crime, can include, in particular, diminished quality of life for society and increased feelings of insecurity among individuals, especially women, who are more likely to be the victims of sexual assault.
    • Economic costs are costs directly attributable to sexual assaults. They can be borne either by society or by the victims themselves. The economic costs of sexual assault are tangible and include judicial services, social services, education, health, employment and personal costs.

      For example, the economic costs associated with sexual assault include:
      • Police services
      • Criminal prosecution
      • Correctional system and enforcement of legislation
      • Lost wages (victims and their loved ones)
      • Health care
      • Lost productivity (victims and their loved ones)
      • Victim support services (e.g. community organizations)
      • Victim compensation programs
      • etc.
  • The cost estimate of child sexual abuse in Canada exceeds $3 billion annually in terms of health care, social services, education and justice.1
  • The economic costs of violence against Canadian women, including sexual assault, total at least $4.2 billion each year (1995 estimate), for social services, education, criminal justice, labour, employment, and health and medical care.2
  • Cost-specific data show the heavy economic toll that sexual assault exacts on society (the cost estimates below come from U.S. studies, as the equivalent data are not available for Canada):
    • Adult sexual assault is the costliest crime against people in the United States, at an estimated cost to victims and society of $127 billion each year according to 1996 data.3
    • In 2008, the cost estimate per sexual assault (rape) in the United States was approximately $151 423.4
    • The expected lifetime income loss from sexual victimization in adolescence is $241 600.5

References

  1. Hankivsky, O. et Draker, D.A. (2003). The economic costs of child sexual abuse in Canada. A preliminary analysis. Journal of Health and Social Policy, 17(2), 1-33.
  2. Greaves, L., Hankivsky, O. et Kingston-Riechers, J. (1995). Selected estimates of the costs of violence against women. London: Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children.
  3. National Institute of Justice. (1996). The extent and costs of crime victimization: A new look. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice. Récupéré au : http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/costcrim.pdf
  4. Delisi, M. (2010). Murder by numbers: Monetary costs imposed by a sample of homicide offenders. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 21, 501-513.
  5. MacMillan, R. (2000). Adolescent victimization and income deficits in adulthood: Rethinking the costs of criminal violence from a life-course perspective, Criminology, 38, 553-588.