Report: Domestic violence costs Estonia over a quarter of a billion euros a year

Kaupo Koppel, expert at the Foresight Centre, pointed out that the economic cost of cases of domestic violence recorded by the police amounts to €94 million a year, but the actual cost to society is estimated to be three times higher. “According to various victim surveys, around 80% of cases of domestic violence are not reported to the authorities, yet they still entail a real cost to society, as violence affects the victims’ quality of life, health and working life. This means that the costs incurred by organisations that deal with the consequences of domestic violence directly account for only a small proportion of total societal costs,’ explained Koppel.

The physical and psychological harm caused to victims, the monetary value of which was estimated at €34 million per year for recorded cases, accounts for the largest proportion of the total societal cost of domestic violence. Given that reported cases account for only one-fifth of all cases of domestic violence, the estimated cost to society amounts to €122 million a year.

The next largest amount of costs is incurred in healthcare. The cost associated with reported cases alone amounted to €13.6 million in Estonia last year, but when hidden violence is taken into account, the actual costs could reach €59 million a year. Of this, €49 million are medical costs, €5 million sickness benefit payments, €3 million the cost of medicines, and approximately one million euros are ambulance costs.

The damage caused by domestic violence to the labour market and the economy amounts to €15 million a year based on recorded cases, but this figure rises to €38 million when unreported cases are taken into account. In addition, approximately €3.6 million is spent each year in Estonia on organisations and services that deal directly with violence, such as victim support, support centres and violence prevention.

Among government agencies, the Health Insurance Fund (€13.6 million) and the Social Insurance Board and its subordinate agencies (€11.8 million) bore the greatest financial burden relating to domestic violence last year.

In the report, the Foresight Centre highlights that, in order to reduce the economic damage caused by domestic violence, greater efforts should be made to detect violence at an early stage and prevent it from recurring. “At present, we are spending a great deal of money on dealing with the consequences of domestic violence, but much of this harm could be prevented. If we can identify violence at an earlier stage and prevent it from recurring, we’ll spare people from suffering and reduce the costs that would otherwise be incurred in the healthcare system, the social welfare system or the labour market,” emphasised Koppel.

The short report “The Economic Cost of Intimate Partner Violence in Estonia” (in Estonian) is based on a study of the same name commissioned by the Foresight Centre and carried out by the research company Civitta, which is part of the Foresight Centre’s research stream “Prevalence and Trends in Intimate Partner Violence in Estonia”. The objective of this research stream is to identify the changing patterns of domestic violence and trends in seeking help in Estonia, in order to assess its long-term impact and support the development of more effective interventions.