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Empowered or impoverished: the impact of panic buttons on domestic violence

Author

Listed:
  • Semih Tumen

    (Department of Economics, TED University)

  • Hakan Ulucan

    (Department of Economics, Anadolu University)

Abstract

This paper estimates the causal effect of a targeted panic button program—implemented in two Turkish provinces between 2012 and 2016—on domestic violence. Difference-in-differences and synthetic control estimates suggest that the program notably increased physical violence against women both at the extensive and intensive margins. The likelihood of physical violence in the treated provinces increased by more than 5 percentage points relative to the control provinces, and the number of physical violence incidents increased by about 10 percent. The increase comes almost entirely from the increase in violence against less-educated women. Employment rates and economic independence indicators improved for women in the treated provinces, which suggests that the program empowered vulnerable women. However, male partners increased physical violence in response to female empowerment. The results are consistent with the male backlash theories and a class of non-cooperative models incorporating violence as a vehicle for enhancing males’ bargaining power, but inconsistent with the models predicting that economic empowerment of women reduces violence by balancing bargaining power within the household. We also develop a method based on retrospective violence information to understand whether the increase is attributable to actual or self-reported violence and conclude that the estimates are entirely driven by the increase in actual violence.

Suggested Citation

  • Semih Tumen & Hakan Ulucan, 2024. "Empowered or impoverished: the impact of panic buttons on domestic violence," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1423-1459, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:22:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s11150-024-09697-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-024-09697-7
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    Keywords

    Domestic violence; Panic button; Male backlash; Female empowerment; Bargaining;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K36 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Family and Personal Law

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