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Sexual Harassment in Public Spaces and Police Patrols: Experimental Evidence from Urban India

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  • Sofia Amaral
  • Girija Borker
  • Nathan Fiala
  • Anjani Kumar
  • Nishith Prakash
  • Maria Micaela Sviatschi

Abstract

We conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of an innovative police patrol program on sexual harassment in public spaces in Hyderabad, India. In collaboration with the Hyderabad City Police, we randomize exposure to police patrols and the visibility of officers by deploying both uniformed and undercover officers across 350 hot spots. To assess the effect, we implement a novel, high-frequency observation exercise to measure sexual harassment at these hot spots, where enumerators recorded all observed instances of sexual harassment and women’s responses in real time. We find that although police patrols had no effect on overall street harassment, uniformed police patrols reduced severe forms of harassment (forceful touching, intimidation) by 27% and reduced the likelihood of women leaving the hot spot due to sexual harassment. We uncovered the underlying mechanisms and found that both police visibility and officers’ attitudes toward sexual harassment are key to understanding its incidence.

Suggested Citation

  • Sofia Amaral & Girija Borker & Nathan Fiala & Anjani Kumar & Nishith Prakash & Maria Micaela Sviatschi, 2025. "Sexual Harassment in Public Spaces and Police Patrols: Experimental Evidence from Urban India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 140(4), pages 3191-3231.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:qjecon:v:140:y:2025:i:4:p:3191-3231.
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo & Daniel Keniston & Nina Singh, 2019. "The Efficient Deployment of Police Resources: Theory and New Evidence from a Randomized Drunk Driving Crackdown in India," NBER Working Papers 26224, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    6. Sofia Amaral & Sonia Bhalotra & Nishith Prakash, 2019. "Gender, Crime and Punishment: Evidence from Women Police Stations in India," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-309, Boston University - Department of Economics.
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    1. Folke, Olle & Hanson, Torbjørn & Johnsen, Åshild & Kotsadam, Andreas & Rickne, Johanna, 2026. "Targeting Attitudes to Combat Sexual Harassment: A Randomized Intervention in the Norwegian Military," CEPR Discussion Papers 21475, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    2. 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.

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