Domestic violence-related use of services and the resulting costs in health, social and legal services

The research project examined the impacts of domestic violence on the use of health, social and legal services and the resulting costs. In the study, data was collected from the registers of primary health care and specialist medical care, shelters, the police and the Kela, and from the Gender-Based Violence population survey. For the period 2015–2020, a total of 33,000 victims of domestic violence were identified in the registers and a control group was formed, which was five times larger. More than 7,700 people responded to the population survey. The additional cost in healthcare services as a result of domestic violence was EUR 1,024 per person annually compared to the rest of the population. Over a period of five years, the direct additional healthcare costs caused by physical intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by women totalled EUR 150 million per year (146,000 women). According to the population survey, 44% of Finns aged 16–74 had experienced IPV, and 65% had experienced domestic violence in their childhood. IPV had been experienced by 48% of women and 39% of men. Among those who had experienced IPV, the costs in social services were 60–90% higher and in legal services (incl. the police), 70% higher than among those who had not experienced IPV. Domestic violence experienced in childhood was visible in adulthood as social and legal services costs that were 50% higher. This publication has undergone an external scientific review.This publication is part of the implementation of the Government Plan for Analysis, Assessment and Research (tietokayttoon.fi) The content is the responsibility of the producers of the information and does not necessarily represent the view of the Government