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Coming out of the woods. Do local support services influence the propensity to report sexual violence?

Author

Listed:
  • Daria Denti

    (Gran Sasso Science Institute)

  • Simona Iammarino

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical investigation of the effect of a local policy for the provision of specialized support services for survivors of sexual crimes on women’ propensity to report sexual offences to the police. Applying the synthetic control method to England and Wales, the investigation outlined provides evidence supporting a positive effect of the local policy. This holds even in the occurrence a of high-profile media campaign about sexual offences, which is anecdotally related to a countrywide increase in the propensity to report. Hence, prominent media coverages of sexual offences do not appear to work as substitute for the local provision of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) support services in England and Wales.

Suggested Citation

  • Daria Denti & Simona Iammarino, 2020. "Coming out of the woods. Do local support services influence the propensity to report sexual violence?," Discussion Paper series in Regional Science & Economic Geography 2020-03, Gran Sasso Science Institute, Social Sciences, revised Jun 2020.
    • Handle: RePEc:ahy:wpaper:wp3
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    women; gender violence; austerity; policy evaluation; synthetic control; local policy; comparative case study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)

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