Abuse at Work

Violence against women costs companies $727.8 million annually due to lost productivity. (Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States. 2003. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Atlanta, GA.)

Over 7.9 million paid workdays are lost each year due to violence against women. (Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States. 2003. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Atlanta, GA.)

74% of employed battered women were harassed by their partner while they were at work. (Family Violence Prevention Fund. 1998. The Workplace Guide for Employers, Unions and Advocates. San Francisco, CA)

More than 1 million women are stalked each year in the U.S., and over a quarter of them report missing work as a result of the stalking. (Tjaden, Patricia and Nancy Thoennes. 2000. Extent, Nature and Consequences of Violence Against Women: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Surevey. The National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved January 9, 2004.)

In one case, a wrongful death action against an employer who failed to respond to an employee's risk of violence against women on the job cost the employer $850,000. (Burke, D.F. January, 2000. "When Employees are Vulnerable, Employers are Too." The National Law Journal)

37% of women personally affected by domestic violence report that the abuse has had an impact on their work performance in the form of tardiness, missed work, a lost job or missed career promotions. (EDK Associates for The Body Shop, The Many Faces of Domestic Violence and Its Impact on the Workplace, New York: EDK Associates, 1997)

91% of Fortune 1,000 corporate leaders believe that violence against women affects both the private and working lives of employees, yet only 12% of those surveyed say that corporations should play a major role in addressing the issue. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study of Fortune 1,000 senior executives conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide, 2002)

66% of corporate leaders believe that their company’s financial performance would benefit from addressing violence against women among their employees; 32% say their company’s bottom line performance has been damaged by violence against women. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study of Fortune 1,000 senior executives conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide, 1994)

56% of corporate leaders today say they are aware of employees within their organizations who are affected by violence against women. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study of Fortune 1,000 senior executives conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide, 2002)

45% of corporate leaders say someone close to them has been involved in violence against women. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study of Fortune 1,000 senior executives conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide, 1994)

Nearly half (48%) of corporate leaders say that the productivity of their workers has been “negatively affected as a result of violence against women.” Corporate leaders say that violence against women has had a “harmful effect” on the physical safety of their own employees (52 %), on employee attendance (42 %) and on employee turnover (29%). (Liz Claiborne Inc. study of Fortune 1,000 senior executives conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide, 1994)