Sexual Violence and Abuse costs England and Wales over £400 billion, new research reveals
New estimates put the lifetime economic cost associated with sexual violence and abuse against children and adults perpetrated in one year at over £400 billion for England and Wales, underscoring the urgent need for long-term investment in specialist prevention and support services.
Developed by researchers at the University of Bristol as part of the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) Violence, Health and Society (VISION) Consortium and in partnership with Rape Crisis England & Wales and the Women’s Budget Group, this first-of-its-kind costing tool offers a more realistic reflection of the long-term burden of sexual abuse and violence borne by both survivors and society.
Together, we call on the Chancellor to commit to sustainable, long-term funding for specialist services at the upcoming Spending Review, if the Government is to meet its pledge to halve Violence Against Women and Girls within a decade and ease pressure on public services.
Key findings:
- The lifetime economic cost of sexual violence and abuse against adults for England and Wales in the year ending September 2024 is estimated to be £292 billion.
- For sexual violence and abuse against children, this number stands at £148 billion.
- This comes up to a total of over £400 billion for sexual violence and abuse associated with both children and adults across England and Wales.
These figures reflect wide-ranging costs to society, including:
- Health and social care services
- The criminal justice system (policing, courts, imprisonment and probation)
- Specialist sexual violence support services
- Economic losses through reduced productivity
- Long-term impacts on survivors’ quality of life
Dr Estela Capelas Barbosa, Senior Lecturer in Health Economics at the University of Bristol, said,
“Our aim was to capture the lifetime cost of sexual violence—something previous estimates overlooked by focusing only on a 12-month window. That short-term view fails to reflect the long-lasting burden that sexual violence takes on survivors’ mental health, quality of life, and service use. While our estimated figure is substantially higher than earlier studies, we believe it remains conservative. For example, we were unable to include critical costs such as (re)housing, meaning the real economic impact is likely even greater.”
Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis England and Wales, said,
“These findings confirm what Rape Crisis have known for decades: that whilst the harms caused to individual adult and child survivors of sexualised violence and abuse throughout their lives is incalculable, the economic case for investing in the specialist support they so consistently say they need in the aftermath of these experiences, is indisputable. Rape Crisis centres provide life-changing and in many cases life-saving support, the need for which has never been more acute; 10,000 survivors are currently waiting for our help, a quarter of whom are children.
But years of severe underfunding and recent national insurance increases means that our centres face an uncertain future; 3 have had to close their doors in the last year alone, and three quarters of those remaining are expecting a loss or reduction in their services. Ending rape requires more than funding; it requires the commitment and political will to prioritise sexual violence survivors, and ensure they do not continue to pay the price for systemic failings”.
Dr Sara Reis, Deputy Director and Head of Research and Policy at WBG, said,
“These figures show us that failing to invest in tackling sexual violence is not just morally indefensible - it’s economically reckless. Specialist VAWG services save lives, reduce demand on overstretched public services, and could save the government billions. We know there’s a significant return on investment in funding these services. We welcome the Government’s commitment to halve VAWG; they must back it with the funding these services so desperately need to recognise and support the essential mitigation and prevention work they do. The upcoming Spending review is their chance to put money where their mouth is.”
In light of these findings, the researchers, RCEW and WBG call on the Government to:
- Commit to long-term central and local government funding for specialist and independent sexual violence and abuse services, including ring-fenced funding for services led ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised women, Deaf and Disabled women and LGBT+ survivors.
- Ensure all survivors can access specialist prevention, protection and support services, regardless of migration status.
- Invest in Prevention: Implement education and community programmes aimed at preventing sexual violence, particularly targeting youth and vulnerable populations; and recognise the unique role that specialist sexual violence and abuse services play in supporting survivors through the criminal justice system
- Promote integrated and resourced approaches across health, social care, and criminal justice systems to provide holistic support for survivors.