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Last July, the Minnesota Department of Health released the figure in a report on the economic impact of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
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Donna Dunn, executive director of the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, far left, talks with Winona community members on Thursday at the Eagles Club as part of Take Back the Night, an event to raise awareness about sexual violence. The event was organized by the Womenäs Resource Center of Winona County and was orinigally intended to be a march in Windom Park, but the rally was moved indoors due to rain. (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News) |
On Thursday night in Winona, a group of people gathered for annual “Take Back the Night” rally. In its 29th year, the event typically includes a presentation and a march, but scattered rain showers prevented the group from taking the message outdoors.
Adria Sherwood, a sexual assault interagency council coordinator at the Women’s Resource Center, highlighted “a ripple effect” in the community.
“A lot of people think that it’s just the victim and the victim’s family that are affected,” Sherwood said. “In reality, people are missing work. There’s therapy bills, hospital bills.”
Donna Dunn, executive director of the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Violence, said the health department’s report was a result of putting concrete evidence on an issue that is not always tangible or easy to report.
Before leading the St. Paul-based coalition, Dunn worked at a victim-based program.
“We hear (victims’) stories and think, ‘Why can’t the public understand what we’re dealing with?’” she said.
The report is intended to answer that question.
Dunn said the greatest way to reduce cost was to reduce sexual crime altogether.
“We need commitment to primary prevention — stopping it before it occurs,” she said at the rally.
Prevention efforts are supported by federal dollars — about $800,000 per year. No state money is allotted to preventing sexual violence.
The health department’s report also stated that 61,000 Minnesota children and adults were sexually assaulted in 2005, and that the highest rate is among girls aged 13-17.
More money is spent on offender costs than victim costs. For every dollar, 59 cents goes toward treatment and confinement of offenders and 41 cents pays for victim cost, such as mental health care and lost work, the report stated.
However, some costs were not counted. Sexual harassment and pornography data was not available. Indirect costs, such as relationship problems victims and offenders may experience later, are hard to quantify.
“It has to be a communitywide change of attitude — to not support conditions that lead to sexual violence,” she said.
