Female Political Representation and Violence Against Women: Evidence from Brazil

Produced by: 
Universidad de Chile
Available from: 
May 2022
Paper author(s): 
Magdalena Delaporte
Francisco Pino
Topic: 
Conflict, Crime and Violence
Gender Economics
Politics and Economy
Year: 
2022

This paper studies the effect of female political representation on violence against women. Using a Regression Discontinuity design for close mayoral elections between female and male candidates in Brazil, we find that electing female mayors leads to a reduction in episodes of gender violence. The effect is particularly strong when focusing on incidents of domestic violence, when the aggressor is the ex-husband/boyfriend, and when victims experienced sexual violence. The evidence suggests that female mayors might implement different policies from male mayors and therefore contribute to reduce gender violence.

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