Domestic violence costs Canadians $6.9 billion a year: Study

VANCOUVER — The aftermath of abusive relationships is costing Canadians an estimated $6.9 billion a year, according to new research out of the University of British Columbia.

The study, published in a recent issue of Canadian Public Policy, found that women who have ended relationships involving "intimate partner violence" continue to face persistent health issues, legal troubles and economic burdens, totalling $13,162 annually per woman — a cost spread across private and public domains.

The assumption has always been that when a woman leaves an abusive relationship "things ought to get better," said the lead researcher, UBC nursing Prof. Colleen Varcoe. "But we didn't know that."

It turns out that many consequences continue to plague abused women well after their relationships are over, disrupting their own lives, but also straining public coffers.

Varcoe said abused women make more frequent visits to the emergency room, rely heavily on food banks, require more employment insurance, and often access legal aid more regularly than others.

The cost of those services is a burden to all Canadians, Varcoe said.

"As a society, we must do a better job of prevention, early detection and support for women at risk to violence," she said.

The study also analyzed reliance on other public services such as hospitalization, X-rays, visits to the doctor, child protection workers, as well as private services such as dentistry and counselling.

To arrive at their findings, researchers interviewed 309 women about their service needs and use following a departure from an abusive relationship with a man within the previous three years.

The researchers compared the women's use of service to that by women in the same age group (19-65) from the general population, cross-referencing those statistics against a 1993 "Violence Against Women" survey which shows that 50.7 per cent of women have reported physical assault by a former partner.

Varcoe said the method allowed them to make a conservative estimate of $3.1 billion if they included only those women who left abusive partners in the last three years. That cost ballooned to $6.9 billion, she said, if researchers expanded their calculations to include all Canadian women who have suffered violence in a past relationship.

Many of the health problems were directly linked to previous physical abuse, Varcoe said, mentioning chronic back pain or residual pain from ailments like broken limbs.

Much of the strain, though, is caused by long term emotional pain and stress associated with abuse, she said. "The effects of stress on your health last a long time."

The study shows there is a need for better co-ordination of responses that integrate health, social services, justice, education, and corporate sectors, and services before and after women make the decision leave an abusive relationship, Varcoe said.

Abused women need to know their friends aren't the only people they can turn to for help, she added.

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Source: Ottawa Citizen