The statistics on sexual assault are dire . It was reported in 2018 that one in five women in the United States had been raped in their life-time , while almost a quarter of piece report other types of sexual violence . Of the survivor , only a 5th seek medical attention and along with emotional and forcible price , the treatment can also come at swell fiscal expense .
Back in 1994 , the Violence Against Women Act ( VAWA ) actually mandated that the victim of sexual ravishment should not be consign for evidence gathering ( such as intimate violation evidence - assemblage kits ) by any medical supplier . However , other handling can be charged for . These include hand brake contraceptive method , laceration repair , bar of sexually transmitted diseases andHIV infection , and diagnostic testing .
In a late study , researchers look at over 35 million infirmary - base visits to emergency section in the US , focusing specifically on visits that were associated with sexual violence . These datum were from the 2019 Nationwide Emergency Department , which reports charges bill not payments made .
In 2019 , there were around 112,844 emergency brake section visit that were cypher for sexual violence . Of this phone number most of the victims ( 88.3 percentage ) were female , 52.7 percent were between 18 - 44 , and 38.2 percent were aged 17 or vernal .
On average , the exigency department mission were $ 3,551 for each victim . If the person was significant during the intimate abuse , they had the higher costs averaging around $ 4,553 .
How did these people pay up for this ? Well , Medicaidwas the remunerator in 36.2 percent of cases , private insurance pay 22.1 percent of the clock time , while 16.0 percentage of people pay out of pocket .
It was found that more than 17,000 people who run low to a aesculapian center for sexual assault were expected to pay the costs themselves . These cost can be perfectly devasting for masses , especially those that fare from a low - income background signal .
The gamy fiscal costs could discourage people from reporting sexual furiousness and seeking medical treatment . These cost could further impound the damaging impression of the assault , by implying that survivor are in some way responsible for for it or by forcing people to disclose the horrific event to their employer , parents , partner , friends , or folk .
The study authors recommend that the VAWA provisions be broadened to cover other services , like remedial services . They also say that the US , in time to come , need cosmopolitan health tutelage coverage so that the financial burden does not close up forensic investigations and aesculapian tending in cases of sexual violation .
The study was published inThe New England Journal of Medicine .
