The Economic Cost of Gender-Based Violence Against Women

The rippling effects of gender violence can be difficult to quantify, whether that’s in terms of the emotional and psychological toll on the person experiencing the abuse, or even the extent to which a society around the individual is impacted, as harmful hierarchies are entrenched.

Some aspects, however, can be more easily calculated, as researchers at the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) show in their 2021 study ‘The costs of gender-based violence in the European Union.’

The following chart draws on data from this report, highlighting how gender-based violence (GBV) against women is estimated to cost the EU-27 member states approximately €290 billion per year. This is around 80 percent of total GBV costs in the bloc, which sum to approximately €366 billion per year when including violence against men. The researchers note that these costs are even at the lower end of estimates, since they do not account for the economic burden of gender-based cyber-violence, which has been estimated at €49-89 billion, or the costs of gender-based violence against LGBTQ+ people.

When looking at a breakdown of the €290 billion, the greatest source of economic losses to society from GBV against women is the criminal justice system, costing an estimated €20.4 billion per year, or 67 percent of direct costs. Health services and social services are the next greatest expenses, combining to account for around 26 percent of direct costs from GBV against women.

November 25 marks the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.