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Can Youth Empowerment Programs Reduce Violence Against Girls during the Covid-19 Pandemic?

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  • Gulesci, Selim
  • Puente Beccar, Manuela
  • Ubfal, Diego

Abstract

This paper shows that a youth empowerment program in Bolivia reduces the prevalence of violence against girls during the COVID-19 lockdown. The program offers training in soft skills and technical skills, sexual education, mentoring and job-finding assistance. To measure the effects of the program, the study conducts a randomized control trial with 600 vulnerable adolescents. Results indicate that 7 months after its completion, the program increased girls' earnings and decreased violence targeting females. Violence is measured with both direct self-report questions and list experiments. These findings suggest that empowerment programs can reduce the level of violence experienced by young females during high-risk periods.

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  • Gulesci, Selim & Puente Beccar, Manuela & Ubfal, Diego, 2021. "Can Youth Empowerment Programs Reduce Violence Against Girls during the Covid-19 Pandemic?," CEPR Discussion Papers 15808, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:15808
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    Cited by:

    1. Fasani, Francesco & Leone Sciabolazza, Valerio & Molini, Vasco, 2022. "Facing Displacement and a Global Pandemic: Evidence from a Fragile State," CEPR Discussion Papers 17104, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Calderone, Margherita & Fiala, Nathan & Melyoki, Lemayon Lemilia & Schoofs, Annekathrin & Steinacher, Rachel, 2022. "Making intense skills training work at scale: Evidence on business and labor market outcomes in Tanzania," Ruhr Economic Papers 950, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    3. Argenis P. Vergara-Torres & Verónica Ortiz-Rodríguez & Orlando Reyes-Hernández & Jeanette M. López-Walle & Raquel Morquecho-Sánchez & José Tristán, 2022. "Validation and Factorial Invariance of the Life Skills Ability Scale in Mexican Higher Education Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-13, February.
    4. Gu, Xin & Li, Hao & Peng, Langchuan, 2022. "The anti-domestic violence law and women's welfare: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 1-16.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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