Gender, Crime and Punishment: Evidence from Women Police Stations in India

Sofia Amaral (), Sonia Bhalotra and Nishith Prakash ()
Additional contact information
Sofia Amaral: World Bank
Nishith Prakash: Northeastern University

No 14250, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We examine the impact of establishing women police stations (WPS) on reporting of gender- based violence. Using administrative crime data and exploiting staggered implementation across Indian cities, we find that the opening of WPS is associated with an increase in police reports of crimes against women of 29 percent, a result driven by domestic violence. This appears to reflect reporting rather than incidence as we find no changes in femicide or in survey-reported domestic violence. We also find some evidence of an increase in women's labor supply following WPS opening, consistent with women feeling safer once the costs of reporting violence fall.

Keywords: women in policing; gender-based violence; women police stations; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J12 J16 J78 K14 K31 K42 N92 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 61 pages
Date: 2021-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-lab and nep-law
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Gender, Crime and Punishment: Evidence from Women Police Stations in India (2021)
Working Paper: Gender, Crime and Punishment: Evidence from Women Police Stations in India (2019)
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