Twice Harmed: A Descriptive Analysis of Illinois Crime Victim Compensation After Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.

INTRODUCTION

Trauma centers are often the first access portal for victims of sexual assault (SA) and domestic violence (DV), with many requiring surgery or long-term follow-up. In Illinois, crime victim compensation (CVC) offers up to $45,000 to cover victim medical expenses. We hypothesized that CVC claims in Illinois following SA and DV result in significant delays, high rejection rates, and small rewards.

METHODS

Illinois CVC data (2012-2024) was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request. CVC data related to SA and DV, including claim types and awards, was compared between genders using descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Award rates were compared to the most recent publicly available set of potential cases from 2012 to 2020.

RESULTS

Of 46,792 CVC claims, 45.1% were for assault/battery. Females filed 18,657 claims, of which significantly more were for DV (18.8% versus 2.3%; P < 0.001) and SA (6.8% versus 0.4%; P < 0.001) compared to male claims. Median SA awards were similar for females and males ($947.7 versus $1079.4; P = 0.78). SA claims took a median of 272 ds (>8 mos) to process. In 2020, despite 4733 publicly-reported SA cases in Illinois, 113 (2.4%) SA-related CVC claims were filed with 14 (0.3%) awarded. SA and DV-related claims were most frequently denied for "failure to substantiate" across both genders (67.8% female versus 60.9% male).

CONCLUSIONS

CVC is underutilized to support SA and DV victims in Illinois. Frontline trauma providers should include CVC education and application assistance as part of wraparound care to better assist patients in their global injury recovery.