There is an epidemic of violence against women – what will it cost to fix it?

Labour made a big pledge to protect women and girls by halving rates of violence. More than a year since the announcement, what progress has been made?

Is there enough cash to solve this multi-billion-pound problem? Illustration: Kaitlan Bachan/The Lead

Violence against women and girls [VAWG] is rife in the UK and the cost is mind-blowing – in personal trauma, in the workplace, and to the public purse. In response to spiralling statistics and devastating headlines, Labour has pledged to halve VAWG in a decade, the first UK government to do so.

But, more than a year since its announcement, the government has not published a breakdown of how it intends to achieve its admirable goal, which costs the UK economy billions annually. Over the summer, the Office for National Statistics published a new combined estimate of the prevalence of domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking in England and Wales – which is to be used as the main measure for assessing Labour's landmark goal, but campaigners are concerned the new metric doesn't capture all the crimes that affect women, including femicide and online misogyny.

Labour has waded into battle in other ways, though, pledging to inject £20 million into support services. Other plans encompass the introduction of rape courts at every Crown Court location in England and Wales to expedite cases, strengthening stalking legal protections, and the placement of rape and sexual offences teams in every police force.

However, due to the entrenched nature of VAWG in society, some wonder if the current action plan is enough to achieve Labour’s goal of halving VAWG. And is there even enough cash to solve this multi-billion-pound problem?

The real cost of VAWG

It’s uncomfortable to correlate VAWG with economic cost, but it’s necessary for understanding the financial ramifications – and the cost of addressing them.

“According to 2017 Home Office figures, domestic abuse alone costs the UK economy an estimated £66 billion annually, largely due to lost productivity and time off work,” says Ellie Butt, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Refuge. “The Domestic Abuse Commissioner estimates this figure now stands at £85 billion in line with inflation.

“Investing in VAWG services will not only save lives – it could save the public purse billions each year.”

Costs incurred by VAWG start with healthcare for immediate and long-term physical injuries, mental health support and the justice system, but expand well beyond these parameters to encompass lost earnings over a lifetime, impact on education and work performance, relationship struggles, and so much more.

A 2018 Women’s Budget Group Report estimated the annual cost of VAWG in the UK to be £40 billion; however, the figure is likely far higher. Recent research conducted in England and Wales estimates that the lifetime economic cost associated with sexual violence abuse perpetrated in one year is over £400 billion.

University of Oxford economist Abi Adams is unravelling the innumerable costs of VAWG to understand its economic tolls. Primarily using Scandinavian data, Abi’s work examines the long-term economic effects of all types of VAWG on victims and their surrounding circles.

“We see more than 10 per cent declines in employment and earnings in rape cases, with antidepressant prescriptions completely rocketing at the time of assault,” she says. “The suicide rate quadruples for survivors of sexual assault who otherwise look exactly the same beforehand, with similar mental health histories.”

One part of Abi’s research showed that living with abusive partners decimated women’s ability to earn. “In one paper, we were able to look at what happens to women's labour supply and economic outcomes right from the moment they move in with an abuser,” she explains. “What we see is that right from the start, women's earnings drop, their employment rates drop. There are also indications that mental health already starts to deteriorate, right from when you move in with someone, even if it takes a couple of years for physical abuse to start.”

In another study, Adams’ work uncovered that the parents of teenage victims of sexual assault can also lose income due to the ripple effect of trauma – things like needing to take time off to care for the survivor. Abi’s work expands our understanding of the economics of VAWG, which she hopes will stop politicians from measuring the impact based on “the time it takes for an individual to report it,” and to see that “these crimes have huge impacts on the ability of individuals actually to go out and work or to go out and finish school.”

But the cost of VAWG can’t just be quantified in numbers; it has to be seen through the lens of the women facing it, like Amber*, who was a victim of domestic violence for 30 years.

Amber debated leaving many times over the decades, but ultimately stayed to protect her son’s quality of life because he requires extra care due to developmental disabilities. However, when her now ex left her, she sought support through Woman’s Trust and decided to speak up about the abuse.

“When he left, because he’d had all the accounts in his name, I had no access to credit,” she says. “I couldn’t get a credit card, so that’s just one cost to me. I was in a 1.25 million pound home on Universal Credit.”

Although Amber emphasises how glad she is to be able to rebuild after the abuse, she stresses that the economic impact of VAWG must not be underestimated when tackling this epidemic.

“Abuse touches and takes every part of your life, accessing credit, support, my career path, it was all gone,” she says. “I’m starting from scratch after 30 years and I’m not the only one doing this.”

Laura McCarthy, psychotherapist and chair of the Ethics, Practice and Safeguarding Committee at mental health charity, Woman’s Trust, adds that while the government’s aims are admirable, it doesn’t go far enough in tackling the astronomical cost of mental health recovery for survivors.

“Significantly, half of all women’s mental healthcare needs are linked to domestic abuse, as are half of all women’s suicide attempts,” she says. “This just isn’t acceptable – and it’s why we’re leading the call, along with over 100 other organisations, for the Department of Health and the Home Office to invest £27.5m into long-term trauma-informed care for survivors.

“We estimate that it costs less than £1,800 per person for a combination of 1-2-1 counselling and group therapy – and that this would bring in a return on investment of close to £20,000 per survivor. The numbers speak for themselves.”

What’s the state of affairs in support work?

Labour has already started its work tackling VAWG and Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips, is undoubtedly dedicated to the cause.

But the stark reality is that while some organisations will benefit from this funding, many others continue to dodge closure in the eternal search for financing. Ultimately, the battle to end VAWG is wrapped up in the same financial chokehold that support services are in. A 2025 report by Women’s Aid estimates that there is a £307 million funding gap for domestic abuse charities alone. Somehow, a new £20 million injection of funds doesn’t seem so impressive in that context.

Trust House, a Thames Valley-based charity that provides free support for victims of sexual abuse, may not make it to the end of the year without additional funding, which would leave thousands of women vulnerable.

“The future is not looking bright at the moment because we’re struggling to get funds, but our waiting list is going up and up,” says service manager Jayne Hurst. “It costs about £41,000 per month to run all of our services, and we just don’t have the funds. We’re constantly fighting for bids and funding, which takes away time from our main work.”

Jayne speaks to me from the charity’s home base in Thames Valley, her passion clear through the screen alone; equally bright is the fear that just one or two failed bids for funding could lead to the closure of Trust House.

“If we’re not here, then it’s a massive impact on the NHS, who haven’t necessarily got the staff to do trauma therapy,” she says. “And it’s the impact on the people, if we’re not going to be here. People who’ve suffered trauma can develop coping mechanisms, like drugs and alcohol, and if that person doesn’t have our support, then the impact on other services is going to be huge.”

Southall Black Sisters, a holistic advocacy service for Black and minoritised women, also struggles with spending so much time searching for funds.

“We regularly face funding shortfalls and resultantly spend a significant amount of our staff time in fundraising; time that could be used to support victim-survivors and invest in long-term positive outcomes for them and their children,” says a spokesperson. “We are also limited in being able to take cases of victim-survivors from our catchment area, which are the London boroughs of Hounslow, Hillingdon and Ealing, and sometimes have to redirect women to other services due to being oversubscribed.”

For example, the Support for Migrant Victims fund, which provides life-saving support for 500 victims with no recourse to public funds a year, does incredible work, but the research by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner estimates that at least 32,000 migrant victim-survivors in the country will need support.

The essential work of organisations like Trust House and Southall Black Sisters is protecting health and social services from the full demand of survivors in need of help. However, even with their diligent work, survivors slip through the cracks and the cost of VAWG continues to spiral as they attempt to rebuild without support.

What would it really cost to halve VAWG?

It’s going to require a lot more than a few million here and there. To start, organisations on the frontline need massive investment to reverse the effects of years of chronic underfunding.

“To ensure the sustainability of the sector, which is essential if we are to have any chance of effectively halving VAWG within a decade, a minimum funding settlement of £502 million is required,” says Ellie. “This must include a ring-fenced £150 million for by-and-for services, which are vital in reaching marginalised survivors who often face significant barriers to accessing support.”

Supporting survivors is vital work; however, it won’t contribute to halving VAWG without the right pairing. Halving VAWG in a decade is only possible through heavy investment in prevention.

“The strategy needs to hinge on prevention,” says Sara Reis, head of research and policy at Women’s Budget Group. “Prevention is key to ensuring women experience less violence, which means working in schools, with young people and with organisations that are already doing this work – and all of this needs to be scaled up.

“There also needs to be an analysis of what is most effective in shifting attitudes and behaviours so that these organisations and programmes can be rolled out across the country.”

Cries of ‘we don’t have the money’ always rebut suggestions of investing in society’s collective wellbeing, but in this case, the evidence shows that the money works; it reduces VAWG, empowers survivors to rebuild their lives, and also saves society money. Research conducted by Women’s Aid estimates that for every £1 invested in support services, we’ll see a saving to the public purse of a minimum of £9.

How much the government aims to invest to achieve its goal of halving VAWG in a decade is a mystery yet to be unravelled. Still, it’s unlikely to scratch the surface of the estimated £400 billion VAWG costs the UK annually. Halving VAWG is an urgent goal, yet without meaningful investment to match the pretty words, the statement risks becoming another empty government promise.

As Ellie at Refuge puts it: “June’s Spending Review sent a clear message that tackling VAWG is not the priority the Government claims it to be… if the Government is serious about its pledge, it must back that commitment with sufficient, sustained funding.”

Behind the statistics are real women like Amber, left to reckon with the lifetime effects, who know all too well what it really costs to recover from VAWG.■

About the author: Hannah Shewan Stevens is an award-nominated freelance feature journalist specialising in disability and health. Her work also focuses on shining a spotlight on underreported issues to make people look at topics from a new perspective. Hannah's work can be seen on Glamour, Cosmopolitan UK, Independent, Refinery29 UK, Metro UK, Telegraph, iNews, and more.