Executive summary: “Violence against women and its financial consequences for businesses in Peru”
We believe that private businesses can be powerful allies in fighting violence against women. They have the necessary resources and effective means to prevent and combat gender-based violence. Therefore, however, it is crucial to catch their interest for the topic. Yet in order for this commitment to be sustainable, it is not enough to appeal to philanthropy and good will. Instead, it is indispensable to demonstrate that violence does not only affect women themselves but also has an impact on a business’ productivity. Violence has a negative ripple effect on the whole society, and businesses are no exception.
For this reason, the University of San Martin de Porres (USMP), a Peruvian university with a history of more than 50 years and a mission statement encompassing values such as respect and dignity, could not ignore this problem. Aggressively tackling taboos, the university researches, among other areas, gender-based violence with the technical and financial assistance of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and its program ‘Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Rights’ and ‘Fighting Violence Against Women in Latin America’ (ComVoMujer). It particularly focuses on the enormous economic impact of violence, as well as developing strategies to combat it.
In 2012, together with the GIZ program ‘Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Rights’ and ComVoMujer, we carried out the investigation ‘Violence against women and its financial costs for private businesses in Peru.’ The result was (not only for the region) a ground-breaking study. Using concrete numbers, it made the latent but very real costs visible which affect businesses – due to partner violence suffered by female employees as well as due to violence executed by male employees (offenders).
The summary of this study encompasses the main results and summarizes the financial consequences of partner violence against women for private businesses in Peru – costs which reach almost 4 % of the annual gross domestic product.
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