Economic Burden Of Domestic Violence Against Women In The Ledzokuku And Krowor Districts Of The Greater Accra Region, Ghana.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Violence against women is considered a violation of their basic human rights. WHO reports that at least one in three women have experienced some form of physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lifetime. Civil society and governments around the world have acknowledged violence against women as a major obstacle to development. It has a major impact on the health status of the woman leading to low productivity, high cost of treatments (legal, hospital and law enforcement expenses) and indirect cost to other family members.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the economic burden of domestic violence against women in households in two districts in the Greater Accra Region.

METHOD: A retrospective cross-sectional study was done using cost of illness approach to determine the cost of domestic violence in the Ledzokuku and Krowor districts of the Greater Accra region. Using a sample size of 120 the direct cost was estimated and indirect cost estimates were determined by use of the Human Capital approach. Intangible cost was estimated using a Likert scale. The overall cost was estimated by summation of the total direct cost and total indirect cost.

RESULTS: This study found the total cost of domestic violence against women to be GHS 121,005.68(USD 22,745.43) with the direct cost being GHS 73,017.33(USD 13,725.06) and indirect cost of GHS 47,988.35(USD 9,020.37) representing 60% and 40% of the total cost respectively. The study also found that majority (89%) of the victims had high intangible cost and 11% reported medium or moderate levels of intangible cost