Child sexual abuse costs the UK economy more than £3bn every year, according to new research published by the NSPCC. Charity hopes awareness of 'multi-billion pound problem' will help start a dialogue with government over preventative care.
In the first study of its kind, the charity found costs to the labour market – through victims’ lost productivity – could be as much as £2.7bn, while healthcare may cost as much as £182m, due to victims’ emotional and health issues, such as depression and behavioural problems.
The report’s author, Aliya Saied-Tessier, said the work represents, “an initial, and we believe first, UK attempt to quantify a range of estimates for the annual costs of child sexual abuse based on academic evidence”.
“The purpose of this paper is not to attempt to perfectly capture how child sexual abuse affects every individual victim. It is to use the existing academic literature to calculate a ballpark figure for how much child sexual abuse costs the victims and society,” she said.
It estimates how sexual abuse at a young age has economic implications for health, the criminal justice system and services for children, as well as the labour market.
Using a flow chart (below), the report summarised the relationship between abuse, outcomes and financial consequences.
Full story courtesy of Community Care
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