{
    "abstract": "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.\nIllinois 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\u00a02020.\nOf 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\u00a0<\u00a00.001) and SA (6.8% versus 0.4%; P\u00a0<\u00a00.001) compared to male claims. Median SA awards were similar for females and males ($947.7 versus $1079.4; P\u00a0=\u00a00.78). SA claims took a median of 272\u00a0ds (>8\u00a0mos) 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).\nCVC 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.",
    "authors": [
        {
            "affiliation": "The College, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Ezra F",
            "initials": "EF",
            "lastname": "Moos"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Section of Pediatric Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Charlotte",
            "initials": "C",
            "lastname": "Kvasnovsky"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Rachel",
            "initials": "R",
            "lastname": "Nordgren"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Section of Pediatric Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Marion C",
            "initials": "MC",
            "lastname": "Henry"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Section of Pediatric Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Carmelle",
            "initials": "C",
            "lastname": "Romain"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Section of Pediatric Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Kylie",
            "initials": "K",
            "lastname": "Callier"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Section of Pediatric Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Joy",
            "initials": "J",
            "lastname": "Ayemoba"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Fatima",
            "initials": "F",
            "lastname": "Bouftas"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Clarice",
            "initials": "C",
            "lastname": "Robinson"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Myles",
            "initials": "M",
            "lastname": "Francis"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Carla",
            "initials": "C",
            "lastname": "Galvan"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Franklin",
            "initials": "F",
            "lastname": "Cosey-Gay"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Section of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.",
            "firstname": "Tanya L",
            "initials": "TL",
            "lastname": "Zakrison"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Section of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Electronic address: phillip.dowzicky@bsd.uchicago.edu.",
            "firstname": "Phillip M",
            "initials": "PM",
            "lastname": "Dowzicky"
        }
    ],
    "conclusions": null,
    "copyrights": "Copyright \u00a9 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.",
    "doi": "10.1016/j.jss.2025.02.036",
    "journal": "The Journal of surgical research",
    "keywords": [
        "Crime victim compensation",
        "Domestic violence",
        "Financial toxicity",
        "Illinois",
        "Sexual assault",
        "Trauma informed care",
        "Violence recovery"
    ],
    "methods": null,
    "publication_date": "2025-03-26",
    "pubmed_id": "40132448",
    "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\u00a0<\u00a00.001) and SA (6.8% versus 0.4%; P\u00a0<\u00a00.001) compared to male claims. Median SA awards were similar for females and males ($947.7 versus $1079.4; P\u00a0=\u00a00.78). SA claims took a median of 272\u00a0ds (>8\u00a0mos) 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).",
    "title": "Twice Harmed: A Descriptive Analysis of Illinois Crime Victim Compensation After Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.",
    "xml": "<Element 'PubmedArticle' at 0x788506b85df0>"
}