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COVID-19, Job Loss, and Intimate Partner Violence in Peru

Author

Listed:
  • Jorge M. Agüero
  • Erica Field
  • Ignacio Rodriguez Hurtado
  • Javier Romero

Abstract

A large literature has explored the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on intimate partner violence (IPV) worldwide. However, few studies provide clear evidence on the mechanisms through which the pandemic exacerbated violence, and many rely on hotline or police report data, which confounds changes in reporting behavior. Our paper addresses this issue by conducting a large nationwide survey in Peru, a country that has been hit particularly hard by COVID-19. We isolate pandemic-related economic shocks based on geographic variation in the industry composition of employment shocks and find a sizable and sustained increase in IPV, which aligns with the patterns found in helpline calls. Households most likely to lose a job experienced the largest increases in IPV. These patterns indicate that economic losses were an integral causal mechanism through which COVID-19 increased IPV.

Suggested Citation

  • Jorge M. Agüero & Erica Field & Ignacio Rodriguez Hurtado & Javier Romero, 2024. "COVID-19, Job Loss, and Intimate Partner Violence in Peru," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(1), pages 1-35.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/727536
    DOI: 10.1086/727536
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    Cited by:

    1. Roman, Soraya & Aguiar-Palma, Marina & Machado, Cecilia, 2023. "A tale of two cities: Heterogeneous effects of COVID-19 quarantine on domestic violence in Brazil," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).

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    More about this item

    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
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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