Education and Domestic Violence: Evidence from a School Construction Program in India

This study examines the impact of a public education policy targeting women’s education on the domestic violence faced by women in India. We use the 2015-16 Demographic Health Survey (DHS) and exploit a regression discontinuity design for a large-scale school construction program, the District Primary Education Program (DPEP), launched in 1994 in India. We find that the program increases women’s education by 0.95 years and decreases different forms of domestic violence: a 13% decrease in emotional domestic violence, a 27% decrease in less severe physical domestic violence, a 9% decrease in sexual violence, and a 10% decrease in injuries due to domestic violence. We explore potential mechanisms and find no improvement in female labor force participation, cash income, and the intrahousehold decision-making power of women. However, we find a significant improvement in the gender beliefs and attitudes of women, as they do not justify domestic violence. Educated women also marry wealthier men who have better gender attitudes and beliefs. Finally, we find that treated and more educated women have better access to information and potentially seek more help from law enforcement authorities, which means an increase in the likelihood of reporting domestic violence to authorities. This could lead to a higher opportunity cost of committing domestic violence for husbands/partners and translate into less domestic violence. Overall, we find strong evidence for improvement in gender attitudes and beliefs, better partner quality, and improved access to information for women.