Fighting violence against women: The role of female political representation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bochenkova, Alena; Buonanno, Paolo; Galletta, Sergio
• 署名单位: University of Bergamo; Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; ETH Zurich
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103140
• 发表日期: 2023
• 关键词: Female politicians; GENDER; Femicide; VIOLENCE; BRAZIL; RDD

摘要

We investigate the effect of women's political leadership in local government on domestic violence against women. Using a regression discontinuity design, we compare Brazilian municipalities where a female candidate barely won to those where a female candidate barely lost mayoral elections. We find that the presence of a female mayor leads to a 50% average reduction in both the homicide rate and violence against women over a four-year term. These results are not attributable to pre-existing municipal characteristics or other observable mayor attributes. Collectively, our findings offer compelling evidence that women in office play a significant role in effectively addressing violence against women.