Publication dated June 2021, publicly released October 2021

Business and Economic Research Limited (BERL) has been tasked by Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) to provide a defensible estimate of the total economic costs of sexual violence in New Zealand.

Sexual violence is one of the least recognised social issues facing our country. Court systems, social norms and reporting structures have been highlighted as a barrier for reporting sexual violence experience. This results in imprecise statistics that camouflage the true costs of sexual violence. It is a widespread issue with significant ramifications, financial and otherwise, for individual survivors, their employers and for society as a whole.

While a precise and completely comprehensive outline of the total cost of sexual violence is not possible, there is some research and literature that offers different frameworks and logical and reasonable estimations for specific costs attributable to sexual violence.

The aim of this research is to build a robust starting point for estimating the costs of sexual violence. We have endeavored to include as many cost categories as possible to provide the most comprehensive estimate, however any estimate will always be missing some categories. We cover these missing categories in a later section. The costs of sexual violence involve both tangible and intangible costs. Tangible costs are those costs actually paid for, such as medical treatment and prosecution of the perpetrator. Intangible costs are those costs which represent something lost, such as the feelings of pain and trauma. (From the Introduction). Record #7324