Exploring Social Justice in
LAW
CITATION
Bolger, D. (2016). Gender Violence Costs: Schools’ Financial Obligations Under Title IX. Yale Law Journal, 125(7), 2106–2130
SUMMARY
This article aims to document the centrality of financial harms to student survivors of sexual violence, specifically as a gender-based barrier to their educational access, across the United States. Currently, 1/5 women suffer sexual assault or attempted sexual assault in the HE context. Much of the existing literature has centred on the psychological toll of sexual violence, focusing on how it can limit or preclude a student’s ability to learn as victims will understandably go to great lengths to avoid their perpetrators on campus; how survivors struggle with depression, PTSD, eating disorders, anxiety attacks, flashbacks, and nightmares; and how some will attempt suicide or engage in self-harm. Looking at the financial costs, the author examines a legal review to explore the notion of a “rape tax” incurred by survivors vis-a-vis the loss of their productivity, added costs of medical and mental health care, property loss, and deterioration in quality of life. Moreover, the institutional failure to reimburse or effectively minimise the hostile environment created by sexual assault compounds these difficulties.