Corporate SA, here’s how you fight gender-based violence
A study shows that such violence prevents an economy from attaining its full potential, and leads to political uncertainty
According to a 2014 study by KPMG, gender-based violence (GBV) costs SA between R28.4bn and R42.4bn a year — or between 0.9% and 1.3% of GDP annually, which is, sadly, in line with global GBV estimates. These costs include health; justice, and other service costs; lost earnings; lost revenues; lost taxes, and second-generation costs, which are the cost of children witnessing and living with violence, such as increased juvenile and adult crime.
The study emphasised that GBV prevents an economy from attaining its full potential: “Aggregate demand is skewed towards goods and services related to the effects of violence thereby diverting resources from their optimal use, resulting in lower economic growth and a reduced standard of living ... Aggregate supply is reduced through lower productivity, reduced output and exports, and reduced savings and investments ... Additionally, the reduction in output is even larger because of the economic multiplier whereby a rand lost represents ...
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