YWCA BC’s new report finds that gender-based violence costs B.C. $1.12 billion each year.
Houssian Foundation is proud to have supported YWCA BC’s new report, The Cost of Inaction: Measuring the Economic Impact of Gender-Based Violence in BC, conducted by economist and public policy expert Robin Shaban.
More than half a million women and gender-diverse people in B.C. alone are affected by multiple forms of violence, yet this report confirms that gender-based violence is preventable. The report notes that gender-based violence costs the B.C. government an estimated $1.12 billion each year. But more importantly, the cost of inaction is systemic harm, loss of life and often long-term psychological harm for victims, families and loved ones.
For decades the anti‑violence sector has highlighted the profound human costs of gender-based violence, but these calls have not been met with the response or investment required to address the scale of this crisis.
Prevention is a far more humane and affordable approach:
- Community and social programs to address gender-based violence average $1,000 per client, compared with $15,000 per sexual-assault investigation.
- Each suicide linked to sexual assault results in approximately $60,000 in lost provincial tax revenue, and each sexual assault costs the economy $1,000 in productivity alone.
- Redirecting resources toward prevention reduces reliance on costlier policing, courts, health care and social services, while decreasing human suffering and improving labour-force participation.
It’s disheartening that adding a dollar figure and the impact on economy is one of the only ways to evoke action from the government on gender-based violence.
Read the full report.