Access to Justice, Gender Violence and Children: Evidence from Women’s Justice Centers in Peru

Many developing countries have unequal access to justice, especially for women. What are the implications for gender-based violence, intra-household bargaining and investments in children? This paper provides quasi-experimental evidence on women’s justice centers (WJCs) a community based approach to reduce violence against women that has been gradually rolled out across Peru. Using administrative data from health providers and district attorney offices, we find that after the opening of these centers, there is a reduction in domestic violence, female mortality due to aggression, femicides and mental health problems. More over, we find that the WJCs substantially increase human capital investments for children, increasing enrollment, attendance, test scores, while decreasing child labor. These results are consistent with a bargaining model in which the threat point is determined by access to justice. In sum, the evidence in this paper shows that providing access to justice for women can be a powerful tool to reduce gender-based violence and increase the human capital of children, implying a positive intergenerational benefit.