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  5. The Economic Impacts of Sexual Assault

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

The Economic Impacts of Sexual Assault

  • Abi Adams
  • Kristiina Huttunen
  • Emily Nix
  • Ning Zhang
American Economic Review (Forthcoming)

Abstract

We estimate the economic impacts of sexual assault using population-wide Finnish police reports and hospital admissions. Over the five years following a sexual assault, victims’ employment falls by 6 percentage points and annual earnings decline by ¤1,500, alongside a 6 percentage point increase in anti-depressant use, relative to otherwise observationally equivalent women. These effects persist for at least a decade and correspond to a 15% decline in employment, 17% earnings loss, and 28% rise in anti-depressant use relative to pre-assault baselines. Sexual assault also generates spillover effects to victims’ networks: female schoolmates and victims’ parents experience significant mental health deterioration.

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