The Huffington Post published the editorial “Campus sexual assaults are economically traumatic for victims,” coauthored by Bruce Kellison, associate director of UT Austin’s Bureau of Business Research, and Noël Busch-Armendariz, associate dean for research at the UT Austin’s School of Social Work and director of the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault.
In the editorial, Kellison and Busch-Armendariz argue that victims of campus sexual assault “bear enormous economic costs that affect their college careers and often their lifetime earning potential.” Trauma makes the post-assault period very hard for victims, and can affect class attendance, grades, and even student employment. In many cases, students have to figure out how to pay assault-related medical bills not covered by insurance.
“The worst long-term economic impact is when victimization hinders the ability to graduate with a degree,” Kellison and Bush-Armendariz say.