Report Finds Sexual Violence in Minnesota Costs State $8 Billion
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 11:38 AM
A new report from the Minnesota Department of Health, Cost of Sexual Violence in Minnesota, states that in 2005 more than 61,000 Minnesotans were sexually assaulted, costing the state almost $8 billion. A large majority of the victims were female, and more than half of the costs were the results of sexual assaults against victims under the age of 18. While the largest portion of the cost (88 percent) was due to victim work loss, medical treatment or mental health care costs and victim services, only two percent of the cost was spent on criminal justice or perpetrator treatment. Sexual violence is costing the state of Minnesota more than three times as much as drunk driving, and authors of the report claim that the $8 billion is only part of the cost as it excludes the costs of many long-term results. Compiled from: “Minnesota Sexual Violence Cost $8 Billion," Family Violence Prevention Fund, 14 August 2007.