KY: Domestic ViolencePage 11 of 17

9. Cost to Society of Domestic Violence

In 2003 dollars, costs associated with intimate partner violence exceeded $8.3 billion, which included $460 million for rape, $6.2 billion for physical assault, $461 million for stalking, and $1.2 billion in the value of lost lives. Increased annual healthcare costs for victims of IPV can persist as much as 15 years after abuse ends. Victims of severe intimate partner violence lose nearly 8 million days of paid work—the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs—and almost 5.6 million days of household productivity each year (CDC, 2015a, 2003).

Nearly 1 in 4 women (22.3%) and 1 in 7 men (14.0%) aged 18 and older in the United States have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Nearly 14% of women and 3.5% of men have been injured as a result of IPV that included contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. In 2010, 241 males and 1095 females were murdered by an intimate partner (CDC, 2015a). All of these unfortunate events mean costs to individuals and society for medical and psychological treatment, law enforcement, social services, lost days of work and school, and so on.

Apart from deaths and injuries, physical violence by an intimate partner is associated with a number of adverse health outcomes. Several health conditions associated with intimate partner violence may be a direct result of the physical violence (eg, bruises, knife wounds, broken bones, traumatic brain injury, back or pelvic pain, headaches). Other conditions are the result of the impact of intimate partner violence on the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and immune systems through chronic stress or other mechanisms (CDC, 2015a). All of these carry hefty long-term price tags for individuals and society.

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