Violence against women is one of the most prevalent forms of discrimination and a major violation of human rights taking roots in historically unequal power relations between women and men. Besides being directly harmful to health and well-being of survivors, violence against women yields significant costs for the society measured by monetary, labour and non-material losses, and has short-term, long-term or postponed effects. The economic costs of violence against women are burdening different actors in a society, including survivors of violence, their abusers and family members, employers that face losses due to disability of employees, public and non-governmental organizations that provide services to survivors, insurance funds and budgets of different levels, all taxpayers, and all in all the entire economy. Indirect costs linked with negative emotional effects of violence (e.g. stress disorders, psychological damage to children who witnessed violence, broken survivors’ family relations and decreased quality of life) cannot be currently measured in terms of economic equivalent.

This report presents the findings of a comprehensive assessment of the economic costs of violence against women in Ukraine. The estimates were produced for the following categories of potential costs: 1) lost economic output due to irreversible population losses (premature women’s deaths), temporary and permanent disability due to gender-based violence, and reduced work productivity of survivors; 2) costs of services provided in response to violence and assistance for survivors (healthcare sector, law enforcement and the system of justice, penitentiary institutions for abusers, social and specialized services for women affected by violence); 3) personal material losses and cash expenses of survivors due to violence.

This research and report publishing were supported by the UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund and Department for International Development of the Government of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (DFID). Report findings, conclusions and recommendations do not represent the official position of UNFPA or DFID.