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Divorce laws and intimate partner violence: Evidence from Mexico

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  • García-Ramos, Aixa

Abstract

This paper examines whether divorce laws affect intimate partner violence (IPV) in the context of a developing country. Exploiting the state-level variation in the timing of the introduction of unilateral and no-fault divorce in Mexico, I estimate the causal effect of easier access to divorce on male-to-female IPV. The results show that IPV does not change in the short term, whereas it increases by 3.7 percentage points in the long term. These results are driven by women who remain married after the reform and they are consistent with IPV being used to prevent women from leaving the marriage.

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  • García-Ramos, Aixa, 2021. "Divorce laws and intimate partner violence: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:150:y:2021:i:c:s030438782030198x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102623
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    2. Díaz, Juan-José & Saldarriaga, Victor, 2023. "A drop of love? Rainfall shocks and spousal abuse: Evidence from rural Peru," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    3. Rui Costa & Olivia Masi & Beatriz Ribeiro & Matteo Sandi, 2026. "Sentencing severity, victim behaviour, and the prevention of domestic violence," CEP Discussion Papers dp2177, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Shah,Manisha & Seager,Jennifer & Montalvao Machado,Joao H. C. & Goldstein,Markus P., 2022. "Two Sides of Gender : Sex, Power, and Adolescence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10072, The World Bank.
    5. Elena Pisanelli, 2025. "Divorce, Domestic Violence, and Help Seeking," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 11(3), pages 1091-1116, November.

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