Gender-based violence and in particular violence against women, is one of the most expensive public health problems globally and has a fundamental impact on economic growth that can span several generations. More than 30 studies, mostly from developed countries, have attempted to quantify the costs of various forms of violence against women. These studies focus largely on the costs of services, and the economic losses due to lost output, decreased productivity and lower earnings resulting from violence.
While the estimates per country vary depending on the scope and focus of the study, the magnitude is clear. Some of the most comprehensive studies, in both developed and developing countries, estimate the cost of violence to be between 1-2% of GDP, and these are widely accepted to be underestimates, given the conservatism of the methodology and the gross under-reporting of violence.
In South Africa, domestic violence and gender-based violence aimed at women is high across all economic and racial groupings. Despite a decrease, the female homicide rate in 2009 was five times the global rate, and the national intimate partner violence homicide rate more than twice that of the United States.
While national prevalence rates of all types of gender-based violence, not just those that result in death, are not available for South Africa, it is clear that it is a real problem of great magnitude. However, so far no attempt has been made to comprehensively estimate the full economic impact this has on the South African economy.
Why cost gender-based violence?
While gender-based violence is repugnant enough in its own right to justify policy interventions, a better understanding of the full cost of violence provides the basis for action within an additional policy framework: that of finance.
Measuring the costs of violence demonstrates how violence drains resources from many affected groups, not just the perpetrators and victims, but also presents significant costs to businesses and the private sector, all levels of government, and civil society.
Costs include health, justice, and other service costs, lost earnings, lost revenues, lost taxes, and second-generation costs, which are the cost of children witnessing and living with violence, such as increased juvenile and adult crime.
It is widely held in the economic costing literature that the whole of society pays for the costs of not addressing violence against women: it is not a private matter.
The objective of estimating the cost of gender-based violence is two-fold:
– To estimate costs associated with violence against women and their children that may be anticipated over a time period if governments and communities do not take action;
– To estimate the cost reductions or the potential gains that could be achieved with reductions in the levels of violence as a result of implementing national, co-ordinated action.
Put another way, it shows the significant cost of inaction.
The cost of gender-based violence in South Africa
The aim of the study was to identify, estimate and aggregate costs associated with gender-based violence as incurred by victims, the government, civil society and businesses in South Africa. It seeks to broadly illustrate the scale of the wider financial impact of gender-based violence in South Africa by highlighting the range of costs that result from acts of gender-based violence, and demonstrating the magnitude of some of their financial implications. It provides indicative minimum estimates of the associated costs, and hence potential savings that could be achieved through a reduction in the prevalence of gender-based violence in South Africa. It is the magnitude of the costs and these potential savings that are emphasised above the actual figures presented.
This study takes into account costs incurred by victims, the cost to government and civil society of preventive and responsive services, and the cost to business in terms of lost productivity. Based on prevalence rates of between 20% and 30% of women experiencing gender-based violence within a given year, the study estimates that the economic impact of that violence is between at least R28.4-billion and R42.4-billion for the year 2012/2013, representing 0.9% and 1.3% of GDP respectively.
The estimates should be considered as a partial or minimum estimate of the true costs, as not all associated costs have been accounted for since the necessary data for a comprehensive cost analysis is just not available in South Africa. Some key data gaps and limitations include:
– There is no national prevalence rate for gender-based violence or violence against women in South Africa. Regional prevalence estimates are not scalable since they will not account for cultural and demographic differences across provinces;
– Government spending on gender-based violence is not ring-fenced and therefore unidentifiable in national expenditure data. Specific challenges exist across government departments in estimating expenditure on gender-based violence. For example, doctors are not required to record incidents of domestic violence as such and the police frequently record domestic violence as general incidents of assault or murder;
– Estimates of pain and suffering are not included in the analysis. In similar analyses, these costs are significant. In the Australian estimates, they represent 44% of the total cost of violence; and
– Data on the true costs to civil society are not readily available, and as such, we anticipate that we have underestimated the costs incurred in this sector.
Recommendations
Given these gaps and limitations, it follows that the true cost of gender-based violence is upward of the results presented in this study, supporting the claim that the cost of gender-based violence in South Africa is significant. In spite of these limitations, the study serves to illustrate with some certainty, a minimum cost of violence and the potential scale of the economic impact on the country given the current availability of information.
Through it, KPMG aims to contribute to a deeper understanding among policy makers, political leaders, nongovernmental organisations, communities and families on the extent of the economic impact of gender-based violence. It also serves to highlight areas for further research: the data and information that prevent a comprehensive or true quantification of violence to individuals, society, businesses and government.
The study presents a number of recommendations, which support those raised by similar studies and organisations addressing gender-based violence, to:
– Strengthen data collection and record keeping;
– Build on existing cost estimates, including the cost of implementing gender-based violence legislation;
– Identify the business case for investing in gender-based violence prevention;
– Ensure an effective inter-sectoral funding model;
– Encourage the private sector to combat gender-based violence; and
– Track the results of interventions directed at gender-based violence.
Conclusion
By demonstrating the significant economic impact of the selected costs, this study aims to provide decision makers with additional insight and a sense of the scale of the total cost of gender-based violence and its impact on society as they execute their mandate with respect to the prioritisation and funding of national policy. Given the significant data gaps and limitations, it estimates the cost of gender-based violence to be between at least R28.4-billion and R42.4-billion, or 0.9% and 1.3% of GDP.
When compared with international studies, this estimate appears woefully short, particularly as the prevalence of violence in South Africa is widely believed to be higher than in many of the comparative countries that have performed similar cost estimate studies.
The conclusion to this study, therefore, is that we have sufficient evidence to believe that the economic impact of GBV in South Africa is significant, but we still have much more to understand about the true magnitude of these costs, and certainly a lot of work to do in order to eliminate them.