We Pay the Cost of Every Sexual Assault in California, and it’s $140 Billion a Year

March 22, 2018 |
Valor

Women from the Ya Basta! Coalition, a statewide group of janitorial workers and advocates, march in support of legislation passed in 2016 that increases protections against sexual violence for California’s janitors.

We’ve heard the individual stories, tagged #MeToo and #TimesUp on social media.
But what about the collective cost of sexual assault?
Research we published last month shows that the annual cost of sexual violence in California is $140 billion.

Statewide, every prevented rape of an adult could save up to $163,800 and every prevented rape or sexual assault of a child could save up to $227,700.
In 2012 an estimated 948,000 California residents were sexually assaulted.
The report makes our charge clear: Rape is costly. Physically, emotionally and economically, the toll on victims is high. We need to invest in prevention in order to reduce personal and economic costs to the state.

For some, the idea of discussing the economic impact of sexual harassment and violence appears unseemly. While sexual harassment and assault are very personal, in order to understand their impact, we need to look at them in the aggregate and in their environments.
 
Read more from CALCASA’s CEO Sandra Henriquez in the California Health Report Op-Ed here