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"Suffer Little Children"
A South African Perspective on Sexually Abused Children and the Criminal Justice System

Suzanne Snively

Background to the report

Family violence is a serious problem in New Zealand. It affects people regardless of their age, culture and income. It affects people's psychological, emotional and physical well-being and can result in injury or death. Between 1988 and 1993, Police figures show that 40% of all homicides resulted from domestic disputes. In the first six months of 1994, more than 10,000 women and children sought help from women's refuges.

As well as the human and social cost of family violence, there is a huge economic cost to individuals, families and the community as a whole. In April 1994 the Family Violence Unit of the Department of Social Welfare commissioned Coopers and Lybrand to develop a model to estimate the economic cost of family violence.

The report, The New Zealand Economic Cost of Family by Suzanne Snively, is one of the first attempts in the world to identify what family violence costs. The project was based on a similar one in New South Wales but was changed to suit New Zealand conditions.

A range of agencies participated in the study by providing the statistical information and by commenting on methods used by Coopers and Lybrand. Agencies involved included: Women's Refuge, Men for Non-Violence, ACC, Social Welfare, Education, Justice, Health, Labour, Police, the Public Health Commission, Te Puni Kokiri and Women's Affairs.

How much does family violence cost?

The report estimates that the annual cost of family violence in New Zealand is between $1.187 and $5.302 billion. Coopers and Lybrand suggests that the most likely cost is $1.235 billion.

One of the reasons it is difficult to estimate the cost of family violence is that there is little reliable data. The report deals with this by providing several different estimates, each based on different assumptions. Readers are able to make up their own minds about which estimate seems most likely.

Prevalence Rates

One area where accurate information is lacking is how common family violence is and how many people are affected by it. Reports suggest that family violence affects anywhere between one in ten families to one in four. In New Zealand, it is commonly accepted that family violence affects one in seven families.

The report provides costs for family violence for three possible prevalence rates - 1:10, 1:7 and 1:4. If more accurate information about prevalence becomes available in the future this can be used to update the estimated costs of family violence. (Tables are provided for the following information: Ed. note)

Scenarios

For each of the prevalence rates, three different scenarios are tested. They take into account assumptions such as the proportion of family violence victims who actually report violence and seek help. Another scenario estimates the cost of women's lost work productivity which results from family violence. The three scenarios are:

Base Scenario - This scenario assumes that the number of people who seek help and use family violence services equals the number of people who report it to the police. Other people affected by family violence are presumed not to use services although they do incur costs themselves, such as for extra visits to GPs.

Five Times Callout Scenario - Here it is assumed that not all people who seek help for family violence will report it to the police. It is assumed that for every one person reporting family violence to the police, there are five who seek help from other sources.

Income Foregone Scenario - In this scenario an attempt has been made to estimate women's lost work productivity which results from family violence. It also takes into account the assumption of the five times callout scenario that more people seek help for family violence than report to the police.

Economic Cost

The report has taken a conservative approach and recommends that the most reliable figure at this stage is the base scenario at 1:7 prevalence. This puts the annual cost of family violence at $1.235 billion. If other factors such as under-reporting to the police and women's lost work productivity are taken into account, however, the costs are likely to be much higher.

A breakdown of the costs to individuals and various government agencies is provided in the report.

What now?

The spreadsheets developed provide a framework for further work in this area. The report has revealed serious information gaps in many areas, particularly in the way many government agencies collect information relating to family violence.

The report also recommends a number of areas for further research. The most of these is the effect of family violence on women's participation in the labour force. It is suggested that the likely true cost of family violence would be much higher than estimated here if income foregone could be more accurately identified.

The spreadsheets will now be held by the Family Violence Unit. As more data become available the spreadsheets will be updated and new costings provided.

Copies of The New Zealand Economic Cost of Family Violence are available from:

Brenda Pilott, Manager
Family Violence Unit, Department of Social Welfare
Level 5, Tower Block
Charles Fergusson Building
Bowen St
Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
or phone 011- 644- 472-7666, fax 011- 644- 472- 4541