247 million USD lost due to intimate partner violence

On December 3, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) revealed the results of its Economic Costs of Intimate Partner Violence in Mongolia Study, one of the first and most comprehensive studies in the Asia-Pacific region.

The result of the study show the overall economic cost that is caused by intimate partner violence. The study found that a total of 247 million USD (601.2 billion MNT) is lost every year due to intimate partner violence in Mongolia.

The key findings of the study were presented during the virtual event. GenderHub, an online database of resources on gender-based violence in Mongolia, was also launched during the event, along with a multi-sectoral panel discussion on “Combatting Gender-Based Violence in Mongolia”, with Minister of Labor and Social Protection A.Ariunzaya, psychologist of the Beautiful Hearts Against Sexual Violence NGO P.Enkhchimeg, professor at the National University of Mongolia A.Solongo and Kh.Amarjargal, the deputy director of Rio Tinto Mongolia LLC.

The Economic Costs of Intimate Partner Violence in Mongolia study, conducted by the National University of Ireland, is the second part of a two-part research to reveal just how much gender-based violence is costing the country at the levels of the household and the economy at large. The first study calculated the cost-of-service provision to survivors of domestic violence.

The following are the key findings of the study:

• Violence against women and girls has significant economic consequences for Mongolia’s economy and society.

• The overall total cost is estimated at 601.2 billion MNT (247 million USD)

• The total cost of action (current expenditure on services) is 24.16 billion MNT (9.9 million USD)

• The total cost of inaction is 577 billion MNT (237 million USD), which equates to almost 24 times the current level of expenditure on service provision.

o Productivity loss, often an invisible cost, accounts for nearly 90 percent of the overall costs of intimate partner violence (IPV) for Mongolia.

o Foregone income of survivors amounts to 18.51 billion MNT (7.6 million USD).

o Unpaid household production and caretaking work loss amounts to 11,275 million MNT (4.6 million USD).

o Out-of-pocket costs come to 6.59 billion MNT (2.7 million USD).

• Projected resource requirements: increasing current service users by 75 percent would result in an expanded resource requirement equivalent to only 7.3 percent of the cost of inaction. Services can be significantly expanded to reach all survivors of without a significant drain on the resources.