This archive report was first published on 25 November 2019.
Published on November 25, 2019, a report by KPMG and Vodafone has shed light on the economic cost of domestic violence in Kenya.
According to the report, titled 'The workplace impacts of domestic violence and abuse,' Kenya loses approximately Sh5 billion every year due to the absenteeism of working women suffering from domestic abuse.
The survey, which covered nine countries globally, estimated that in the past 12 months, an estimated 505,000 women in Kenya were forced to take time off work because of domestic violence, significantly impacting their productivity and that of private and public sector institutions.
Kenya's situation is more severe compared to South Africa, where about 238,000 women skipped work in the same period, the report found.
As the report notes, the estimated impacts only cover female victims of domestic violence and abuse, and the overall impacts covering male victims are likely to be higher.
The economic consequences of domestic violence are far-reaching, with reduced economic output and productivity, as well as fiscal impacts linked to reduced income-related tax revenues from lower earnings of domestic violence and abuse victims and due to reduced company output.
Companies like Safaricom have taken steps to support their female workers experiencing domestic violence by setting up toll-free lines to help them access psychological help, hospitals, and report incidents to the police.
