Domestic Violence Laws and Social Norms: Evidence from Pakistan

Selim Gulesci (), Marinella Leone and Sameen Zafar
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Selim Gulesci: Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin

No tep0324, Economic Papers from Trinity College Dublin, Economics Department

Abstract: We investigate the effects of Domestic Violence (DV) laws in Pakistan on violence against women. Using both survey data and crime reports, and exploiting the staggered introduction of the laws across different provinces over time, we show that the new laws had little to no effect on DV or femicides in Punjab and Sindh, while they led to an increase in both in Balochistan. The effect in Balochistan is driven by ethnic groups with more conservative attitudes towards DV and divorce. Our findings show that introduction of laws that conflict with prevailing social norms may risk backfiring.

Keywords: Domestic violence laws; social norms; violence against women (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J16 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2024-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law, nep-soc and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep0324

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