The impacts of violence against women in the workplace: Perpetrators impact the bottom line

Perpetrator violence needs to be taken seriously as a corporate issue. Perpetrator violence cannot be strictly viewed as an ethical concern, but one that has financial consequences for corporations. Violence against women is pervasive in our society and is known by many names, including domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and family violence. Society at large tends to compartmentalize violence against women as a private issue; but violence against women impacts all aspects of a woman's life, including her workplace. Companies need to take action towards the elimination of violence against women and provide programming for both victims as well as abusers. This paper provides an overview of the research that has been conducted on the consequences that violence against women has on a workplace, and it focuses on the financial impact that perpetrators of violence have on a company. A calculator in Appendix A has been developed for Canadian businesses to help show the financial impact of perpetrator violence to help show how this is, indeed, an issue that corporations have a vested interest in instigating change. The paper ends with a conclusion of next steps and recommendations for further research on this topic.