Economic Costs of Violence Against Women in Mozambique

Abstract

Huge efforts have been made to make society aware of the concerns of violence against women (VAW). Hiding this phenomenon creates obstacles to quantify and clearly understand related aspects as well as leads to barriers to undertake actions for the reduction or elimination of VAW. The aim of this study is to estimate costs associated with VAW and produce data that will help in the design of strategies for the reduction or elimination of VAW. The economic cost of VAW was calculated for the cities of Maputo, Matola, Beira, and Nampula, for a time horizon of 4 years (2005-2008). Calculation of economic costs of VAW considered costs for health care, judicial costs, the assistance provided by the justice services, and support from civil society organizations offering services to women subjected to violence. The economic cost of VAW in Maputo, Matola, Beira, and Nampula, for a time horizon of 4 years (2005-2008), was US$1,473,828.7, with the health sector absorbing about 81% of the amount, justice 17%, and organizations working in the area of prevention with 2%. Although calculated costs represent an estimate, it is clear that VAW consumes a significant amount of the state budget. Estimated value is much higher than the budget allocated to the National Action Plan for Prevention and Combat of Violence Against Women. The improvement of collection of statistical data may lead to producing more robust estimates and have more absolute and comparable data.

Keywords: domestic violence; economic cost of violence; violence against women.