Koszty zdrowotne i społeczne przemocy domowej wobec kobiet

Domestic violence is a serious threat to the safety of citizens of modern Europe. According to the Council of Europe, one European woman in four is experiencing domestic violence, at some point of her life (statistics on the basis of the report of the Council of Europe of 2002). Based on the latest literature, authors conducted an analysis of the phenomenon of domestic violence against women in two dimensions: the psycho-medical and the socioeconomic. In the psycho-medical dimension there was presented and evaluated the battered woman syndrome the term popularized by L.E.A. Walker. This combination of symptoms considered initially as relatively specific, in the light of the research proved to be heterogeneous: among women subjected to violence there are observed symptoms of PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder), or characteristic symptoms of depression or anxiety. Remains open question whether the observed PTSD resulting from domestic violence differ qualitatively from the others (e.g., occurring as a result of accidents or disasters). In the socio-economic dimension, the paper presents results of the survey that indicates a decrease in tolerance for violence against women in the countries of the EU and an increase of “social vigilance” for this type of pathology. British studies show that expanding the institutional support for the victims causes a decline in the rate of domestic violence, which is refl ected in lower economic costs associated with this pathological phenomenon. Based on methodology used for counting the costs of crime, British researchers have estimated the total cost of domestic violence occurring in the UK at around 23 billion pounds a year in 2001 and around 16 billion a year in 2008.