Sentencing severity, victim behaviour, and the prevention of domestic violence

Can harsher criminal sanctions reduce violence inside intimate relationships? We study Brazil's 2015 Femicide Law, which reclassified femicide as a heinous crime and raised expected penalties for gender-based killings. Using ten years of linked administrative records for the universe of individuals in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, we compare women born in municipalities with different pre-reform exposure to men with a history of violence against women. We find that the reform reduced domestic violence, with effects concentrated in serious non-fatal offences: bodily injuries, threats, and fighting. The decline does not appear to be explained by reporting changes or incapacitation. Instead, the evidence points to deterrence reinforced by victims' use of the state: after the reform, women requested protective measures more often and did so earlier in the sequence of abuse. The results show that criminal law can reduce domestic violence before the fatal margin, not only by threatening offenders, but by making protection a more credible option for victims.