IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i20p13300-d943928.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can Legislation Reduce Domestic Violence in Developing Countries?

Author

Listed:
  • My Nguyen

    (Faculty of Economics and Public Management, Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam)

  • Kien Le

    (Faculty of Economics and Public Management, Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam)

Abstract

This study investigates the extent to which the legislation targeting domestic violence may influence both women’s victimization by their partners and marital dissolution in 54 developing countries. We find that the legislation is effective in reducing domestic violence against women, evidenced by the decreases in the composite indices of emotional abuse, less severe violence, more severe violence, and sexual violence by 13.6, 14.4, 19.6, and 11.5%, relatively, relative to the sample averages. The legislation also makes women less likely to be divorced. Our heterogeneity analysis reveals that the disadvantaged population, i.e., rural women, poorly educated women, women having poorly educated spouses, and women from relatively poorer households, might receive less protection from the domestic violence law. Our findings call for more reforms in the legislative systems, so that domestic violence victims can be better protected.

Suggested Citation

  • My Nguyen & Kien Le, 2022. "Can Legislation Reduce Domestic Violence in Developing Countries?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13300-:d:943928
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13300/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13300/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Le Kien & Nguyen My, 2021. "How Education Empowers Women in Developing Countries," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(2), pages 511-536, April.
    2. Bhattacharyya, Manasi & Bedi, Arjun S. & Chhachhi, Amrita, 2011. "Marital Violence and Women's Employment and Property Status: Evidence from North Indian Villages," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 1676-1689, September.
    3. Kien Le & My Nguyen, 2022. "War and Intimate Partner Violence in Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    4. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2006. "Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: Divorce Laws and Family Distress," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(1), pages 267-288.
    5. Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2022. "Son Preference and Health Disparities in Developing Countries," MPRA Paper 112348, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Gary Solon & Steven J. Haider & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2015. "What Are We Weighting For?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 301-316.
    7. Claire P. Street & Poh Yen Ng & Haya Al-Dajani, 2022. "Refugee Women Business Mentors: New Evidence for Women’s Empowerment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-21, July.
    8. Ömer Alkan & Şenay Özar & Şeyda Ünver, 2021. "Economic violence against women: A case in Turkey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-23, March.
    9. Kien Le & My Nguyen, 2020. "The impacts of farmland expropriation on Vietnam’s rural households," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 1560-1582, November.
    10. Rao, Smitha, 2020. "A natural disaster and intimate partner violence: Evidence over time," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    11. Emmanuel Ofori & Kenichi Kashiwagi, 2022. "Impact of Microfinance on the Social Performance of Local Households: Evidence from the Kassena Nankana East District of Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-25, May.
    12. Gustavo J. Bobonis & Melissa González-Brenes & Roberto Castro, 2013. "Public Transfers and Domestic Violence: The Roles of Private Information and Spousal Control," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 179-205, February.
    13. Trinidad Beleche, 2019. "Domestic violence laws and suicide in Mexico," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 229-248, March.
    14. Nguyen, My & Le, Kien, 2022. "Maternal education and son preference," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. My Nguyen & Kien Le, 2023. "The impacts of women's land ownership: Evidence from Vietnam," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 158-177, February.
    2. Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2022. "Desert locust swarms and child health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    3. García-Ramos, Aixa, 2021. "Divorce laws and intimate partner violence: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    4. Kien Le, 2022. "Pre-Recorded Lectures, Live Online Lectures, and Student Academic Achievement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-10, March.
    5. Kien Le & My Nguyen, 2022. "War and Intimate Partner Violence in Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    6. Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2020. "The Impacts of Armed Conflict on Child Health: Evidence from 56 Developing Countries," MPRA Paper 109896, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Ana Tur-Prats, 2019. "Family Types and Intimate Partner Violence: A Historical Perspective," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(5), pages 878-891, December.
    8. Gustavo J Bobonis & Roberto Castro & Juan S Morales, 2020. "Legal Reforms, Conditional Cash Transfers, and Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Mexico," Working Papers tecipa-678, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    9. Trinidad Beleche, 2019. "Domestic violence laws and suicide in Mexico," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 229-248, March.
    10. Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2022. "Son Preference and Health Disparities in Developing Countries," MPRA Paper 112348, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Platteau, Jean-Philippe & Camilotti, Giula, 2017. "Eradicating Women-Hurting Customs: What Role for Social Engineering?," CEPR Discussion Papers 12107, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. 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.
    13. Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2021. "Education and political engagement," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    14. Jean-Marie Baland & Roberta Ziparo, 2017. "Intra-household bargaining in poor countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-108, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Camilotti, Giula & Platteau, Jean-Philippe, 2017. "Eradicating Women-Hurting Customs: What Role for Social Engineering?," CEPR Discussion Papers 12107, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Emin Gahramanov & Khusrav Gaibulloev & Javed Younas, 2022. "Does property ownership by women reduce domestic violence? A case of Latin America," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 548-563, July.
    17. Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2021. "In-utero Exposure to Rainfall Variability and Early Childhood Health," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    18. Teresa Molina & Mari Tanaka, 2023. "Globalization and Female Empowerment: Evidence from Myanmar," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(2), pages 519-565.
    19. Nicholas W. Papageorge & Gwyn C. Pauley & Mardge Cohen & Tracey E. Wilson & Barton H. Hamilton & Robert A. Pollak, 2021. "Health, Human Capital, and Domestic Violence," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 56(4), pages 997-1030.
    20. Mohammad Amin & Asif M. Islam & Augusto Lopez‐Claros, 2021. "Absent laws and missing women: Can domestic violence legislation reduce female mortality?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 2113-2132, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13300-:d:943928. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.