IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp15994.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Hit Where It Hurts: Healthcare Access and Intimate Partner Violence

Author

Listed:
  • Bellés Obrero, Cristina

    (Barcelona Institute of Economics)

  • Rice, Caoimhe T.

    (University of York)

  • Vall-Castello, Judit

    (University of Barcelona)

Abstract

This paper investigates the causal link between healthcare access and the help-seeking behavior of intimate partner violence (IPV) victims. Healthcare access can be an important entry point for screening or detecting IPV. Doctors are required by law to report any injuries to a judge if they suspect they are the result of a crime and can inform and direct victims to IPV services. We exploit the 2012 reform in Spain that removed access to the public healthcare system for undocumented immigrants. We use court reports and protection order requests from the Judicial Branch of the Spanish government to perform a difference-in-differences approach, comparing the help-seeking behavior of foreign and Spanish women before and after the reform. We find that the impact of the reform was immediate; foreign women's IPV reporting and application for protection orders decreased by 12%. This effect is entirely driven by regions with stronger enforcement of the reform. We show suggestive evidence that the reform left the underlying levels of IPV incidence unaffected. Instead, the results are driven by a reduction in injury reports by medical centers. Our findings are important given the increase in migration flows globally as well as for current debates on granting/limiting access to healthcare for marginalized groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Bellés Obrero, Cristina & Rice, Caoimhe T. & Vall-Castello, Judit, 2023. "Hit Where It Hurts: Healthcare Access and Intimate Partner Violence," IZA Discussion Papers 15994, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15994
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp15994.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. César Alonso-Borrego & Raquel Carrasco, 2017. "Employment and the risk of domestic violence: does the breadwinner’s gender matter?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(50), pages 5074-5091, October.
    2. Raj, A. & Silverman, J.G., 2003. "Immigrant South Asian women at greater risk for injury from intimate partner violence," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(3), pages 435-437.
    3. 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.
    4. Anna Aizer, 2011. "Poverty, Violence, and Health: The Impact of Domestic Violence During Pregnancy on Newborn Health," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(3), pages 518-538.
    5. Cimas, Marta & Gullon, Pedro & Aguilera, Eva & Meyer, Stefan & Freire, José Manuel & Perez-Gomez, Beatriz, 2016. "Healthcare coverage for undocumented migrants in Spain: Regional differences after Royal Decree Law 16/2012," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(4), pages 384-395.
    6. Dolores Jiménez‐Rubio & Judit Vall Castelló, 2020. "Limiting health‐care access to undocumented immigrants: A wise option?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(8), pages 878-890, August.
    7. Sviatschi,Maria Micaela & Trako,Iva, 2021. "Gender Violence, Enforcement, and Human Capital : Evidence from Women's Justice Centers in Peru," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9624, The World Bank.
    8. Amalia R Miller & Carmit Segal, 2019. "Do Female Officers Improve Law Enforcement Quality? Effects on Crime Reporting and Domestic Violence," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(5), pages 2220-2247.
    9. Iyengar, Radha, 2009. "Does the certainty of arrest reduce domestic violence? Evidence from mandatory and recommended arrest laws," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1-2), pages 85-98, February.
    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. Black, Dan A. & Grogger, Jeffrey & Kirchmaier, Tom & Sanders, Koen, 2023. "Criminal charges, risk assessment and violent recidivism in cases of domestic abuse," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121374, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Sofia Amaral & Gordon B. Dahl & Victoria Endl-Geyer & Timo Hener & Helmut Rainer, 2023. "Deterrence or Backlash? Arrests and the Dynamics of Domestic Violence," NBER Working Papers 30855, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Sonia Bhalotra & Uma Kambhampati & Samantha Rawlings & Zahra Siddique, 2021. "Intimate Partner Violence: The Influence of Job Opportunities for Men and Women," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(2), pages 461-479.
    4. Denti, Daria & Iammarino, Simona, 2022. "Coming Out of the Woods. Do local support services influence the propensity to report sexual violence?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 334-352.
    5. Chin, Yoo-Mi & Cunningham, Scott, 2019. "Revisiting the effect of warrantless domestic violence arrest laws on intimate partner homicides," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    6. Garcia-Hombrados, Jorge & Martínez Matute, Marta, 2021. "Specialized Courts and the Reporting of Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 14936, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. 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.
    8. Sofia Amaral, 2015. "Do Improved Property Rights Decrease Violence Against Women in India?," Discussion Papers 15-10, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
    9. Jácome, Elisa, 2022. "The effect of immigration enforcement on crime reporting: Evidence from Dallas," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    10. 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.
    11. repec:cte:werepe:29029 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Perrotta Berlin, Maria & Campa, Pamela & Paltseva, Elena & Krumina, Marija & Pluta, Anna & Shpak, Solomiya, 2022. "Domestic violence legislation - Awareness and support in Latvia, Russia and Ukraine," SITE Working Paper Series 58, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics.
    13. Selim Gulesci & Marinella Leone & Sameen Zafar, 2024. "Domestic Violence Laws and Social Norms: Evidence from Pakistan," Trinity Economics Papers tep0324, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    14. Caoimhe Rice & Judit Vall Castelló, 2018. "Hit where it hurts – healthcare access and intimate partner violence," Working Papers 2018/22, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    15. Davis, Lewis & Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Weber, Clas, 2022. "Gendered Language and Gendered Violence," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1127, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    16. Averett, Susan L. & Wang, Yang, 2014. "Identifying the Causal Effect of Alcohol Abuse on the Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence by Men Using a Natural Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 7996, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Magdalena Delaporte & Francisco Pino, 2022. "Female Political Representation and Violence Against Women: Evidence from Brazil," Working Papers wp534, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    18. Michele Battisti & Ilpo Kauppinen & Britta Rude, 2022. "Twitter and Crime: The Effect of Social Movements on GenderBased Violence," ifo Working Paper Series 381, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    19. Susan L. Averett & Yang Wang, 2016. "Identifying the causal effect of alcohol abuse on the perpetration of intimate partner violence by men using a natural experiment," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 82(3), pages 697-724, January.
    20. Sviatschi, Maria Micaela & Trako, Iva, 2024. "Gender violence, enforcement, and human capital: Evidence from women’s justice centers in Peru," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    21. Seetha Menon, 2023. "The effect of domestic violence on cardiovascular risk," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 371-395, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    healthcare access; intimate partner violence; reporting; undocumented immigrants;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:iza:izadps:dp15994. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.