Noel Busch Armendariz
Professor Busch-Armendariz

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.

Read the full article.