Peer-reviewed article
The Economic Cost of Violence Against Women and Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review of the Evidence
Seema Vyas, Melissa Meinhart, Katrina Troy, Hannah Brumbaum, Catherine Poulton et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This systematic review examined economic costs of violence against women and girls in low- and middle-income countries, analysing 13 studies published since 2005. Most studies focused on domestic and intimate partner violence, using accounting approaches to estimate costs. Out-of-pocket health care expenses ranged from US$29.72 in South Africa to US$156.11 in Romania per violence episode. The review found major methodological inconsistencies across studies that made cross-country comparisons difficult and concluded that measured costs represent only a fraction of the true economic burden.
Key points
- Out-of-pocket expenditures for health care after violence ranged from US$29.72 (South Africa) to US$156.11 (Romania)
- Lost productivity per facility visit ranged from US$73.84 to US$2,151.48 in South Africa
- Eight of thirteen studies were from sub-Saharan Africa; eight studies focused on domestic or intimate partner violence
- Methodological inconsistencies in cost measurement, intervention scale, and data collection hampered comparisons across countries
- Estimated costs represent only a fraction of the true economic burden of violence against women and girls
Limitations
The review does not provide intervention evaluation or evidence of what works to reduce violence. The systematic review itself acknowledges that existing studies use inconsistent methodologies and measure only a limited range of economic impacts, so findings about true costs remain incomplete.
Abstract
Evidence demonstrating the economic burden of violence against women and girls can support policy and advocacy efforts for investment in violence prevention and response programming. We undertook a systematic review of evidence on the costs of violence against women and girls in low- and middle-income countries published since 2005. In addition to understanding costs, we examined the consistency of methodological approaches applied and identified and assessed common methodological issues. Thirteen articles were identified, eight of which were from sub-Saharan Africa. Eight studies estimated costs associated with domestic or intimate partner violence, others estimated the costs of interpersonal violence, female genital cutting, and sexual assaults. Methodologies applied to estimate costs were typically based on accounting approaches. Our review found that out-of-pocket expenditures to individuals for seeking health care after an episode of violence ranged from US$29.72 (South Africa) to US$156.11 (Romania) and that lost productivity averaged from US$73.84 to US$2,151.48 (South Africa) per facility visit. Most studies that estimated provider costs of service delivery presented total programmatic costs, and there was variation in interventions, scale, and resource inputs measured which hampered comparability. Variations in methodological assumptions and data availability also made comparisons across countries and settings challenging. The limited scope of studies in measuring the multifaceted impacts of violence highlights the challenges in identifying cost metrics that extend beyond specific violence episodes. Despite the limited evidence base, our assessment leads us to conclude that the estimated costs of violence against women and girls are a fraction of its true economic burden.