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Women, Violence and Work: Threat of Sexual Violence and Women's Decision to Work

Author

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  • Tanika Chakraborty
  • Nafisa Lohawala

Abstract

We investigate the extent to which the low workforce participation of women in India can be explained by growing instances of officially reported crimes against women. We employ a fixed‐effects strategy using district‐level panel data between 2004 and 2012. To address additional concerns of endogeneity, we conduct a wide range of sensitivity checks, including instrumental variable and border analysis using state‐level regulations on alcohol sales and consumption. Our baseline findings are robust across all specifications. Our most conservative estimates suggest that for every additional sexual crime in a district, approximately 32 women are deterred from joining the workforce.

Suggested Citation

  • Tanika Chakraborty & Nafisa Lohawala, 2026. "Women, Violence and Work: Threat of Sexual Violence and Women's Decision to Work," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 182-210, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:30:y:2026:i:1:p:182-210
    DOI: 10.1111/rode.13270
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    Cited by:

    1. Adnan M. S. Fakir & Tushar Bharati & Ashraf S. Khan, 2026. "The impact of media coverage of sexual violence on women’s work decisions in rural Bangladesh," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 39(2), pages 1-29, June.
    2. Rajshri Jayaraman & Bisma Khan, 2023. "Does Co-Residence with Parents-In-Law Reduce Women’s Employment in India?," Working Papers 2023-004, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    3. Deshpande, Ashwini & Singh, Jitendra, 2021. "Dropping Out, Being Pushed Out or Can’t Get in? Decoding Declining Labour Force Participation of Indian Women," IZA Discussion Papers 14639, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Tista Mukherjee & Sukanta Bhattacharya & Ishita Mukhopadhyay, 2026. "Unsafe daughters: sexual violence in public spheres and intrahousehold preference for sons," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 39(1), pages 1-41, March.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

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