Cost of Crime and Victimization

A 2003 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calculates the annual health-related costs of rape, physical assault, stalking and homicide by intimate partners to exceed $5.8 billion each year. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2003. Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.)

Almost $4.1 billion a year is spent on direct medical and mental health care services in the United States as a result of intimate partner violence. (Ibid.)

The total costs of non-fatal intimate partner violence also include nearly $0.9 billion in lost productivity from paid work and household chores and $0.9 billion in lifetime earnings lost by victims of intimate partner violence homicide. (Ibid.)

Each year, victims of intimate partner violence lose nearly eight million days of paid work because of the violence – the equivalent of over 32,000 full-time jobs. (Ibid.)

Women stalked by an intimate partner averaged the largest number of days lost from paid work. (Ibid.)

Direct expenditure for police protection, judicial and legal services and correctional activities in 2001 in the United States was a record $167 billion for local, state and federal governments. (Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2004. Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2001. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.)

In March 2001, almost 2.3 million people were employed by local, state and federal justice systems. The March 2001 total payroll to these employees was $8.1 billion. (Ibid.)

State compensation programs paid crime victims and their families $455 million in benefits in the federal fiscal year 2003. Since 1997, there has been an 82.5 percent increase in payments from state compensation programs. (Personal interview with Dan Eddy, Executive Director, National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards. September 1, 2004.)

In 2003, about 40 percent of all compensation payments were made for medical and dental costs, about a fourth went to cover lost wages and lost support, and approximately 15 percent paid for mental health costs. (Ibid.)

The NACVCB reports that one-fourth of all persons receiving crime victim compensation benefits in 2003 were domestic violence victims. (Ibid.)

Child victims of physical and sexual abuse were beneficiaries of close to another one-fourth of all claims paid in 2003. (Ibid.)

The direct tangible costs to crime victims annually are estimated to be $105 billion in medical expenses, lost earnings, and public program costs related to victim assistance. Pain, suffering and reduced quality of life increase the cost to $450 billion annually. (National Institute of Justice. 1996. Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.)

The direct cost of hospitalization for child abuse victims is estimated at $6.2 billion a year. The direct cost of mental health services is over $425 million a year. (Prevent Child Abuse America. 2001. Total Estimated Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States. Chicago, IL.)