The moral case for supporting survivors of sexual violence is self-evident. The harm inflicted is profound and can have long-lasting impacts on almost every aspect of life. That alone should be enough to justify investment in prevention and specialist support.
But, in the UK, moral clarity is not always matched by political will. Public spending decisions are led by chronic short-termism and economic pressures, particularly in a time of widespread crisis – whether in health, housing, or the climate.
The Labour government has made little progress on its promise to halve violence against women and girls in the UK within a decade, and has rowed back on its international promises to prioritise women and girls around the world by cutting aid to fund defence. In the context of this worrying change in direction, it becomes necessary to make the economic argument alongside the moral one.
The lifetime cost of sexual violence in England and Wales to taxpayers is £440bn. This isn’t just an abstract number. It represents the real, long-term consequences of violence, consequences our public services and communities absorb every year. From health and mental health services, social care, and criminal justice responses, this £440bn figure also accounts for lost productivity and the reduced quality of life for those affected.
The jaw-dropping figure has been reached through a new costing tool developed by researchers at the University of Bristol’s Violence, Health and Society (VISION) Consortium in partnership with Rape Crisis England & Wales and the Women’s Budget Group.
It’s worth noting that £440bn is the estimated lifetime economic burden of sexual violence for people who were victims in the previous 12 months. Each year, there will be a new group of victims/survivors whose violence suffered will add up to a similar amount across their lifetime.
This research marks a shift in how we understand the impact of sexual violence. While past estimates have focused on annual costs (£12.2bn for adult victims and £10.1bn for children, according to Home Office data), this analysis looks at the full, lifelong economic burden of one year’s worth of offences. The findings are shocking.
Every region across England and Wales bears a significant share of this burden. For example, the south-east of England faces the highest estimated lifetime costs of sexual violence at £68.6bn, closely followed by London at £65bn. The calculator enables us to look at these regional differences, and even allows people to calculate the cost of sexual violence in their local area.
The research comes as the very support services designed to mitigate this harm are facing a funding crisis and struggling to keep their doors open. Nearly half of centres run by Rape Crisis, a charity working to end all forms of sexual violence in England and Wales, anticipate cuts to core funding, with over 40% expecting reductions in counselling, and 30% fearing closure altogether. These services provide immediate crisis support and long-term recovery care, both essential to reducing trauma and preventing further harm. Yet, right now, 14,000 survivors are waiting to access their support.
This creates a dangerous paradox: as the scale of harm becomes clearer, the capacity to respond to it is being undermined.
The current approach to public funding, driven by short-termist cost-cutting, often fails to account for the long-term consequences of disinvestment. Cutting services such as Rape Crisis centres may appear to save money in the short term, but the evidence shows it results in greater social and economic costs over time. When survivors are left without proper support, their health suffers, their ability to work is compromised, and their path through the criminal justice system becomes even more fraught.
This is a false economy. We must shift our focus toward long-term thinking, something our current system fails to prioritise. If we’re serious about reducing harm and building healthier communities, we have to acknowledge what these figures show: investing in specialist services isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s also one of the most economically sound decisions we can make.
