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Can Youth Empowerment Programs Reduce Violence against Girls during the COVID-19 Pandemic ?

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  • Gulesci,Selim
  • Beccar,Manuela Puente
  • Ubfal,Diego Javier

Abstract

This paper shows that a youth empowerment program in Bolivia reduces the prevalence of violence against girls during the COVID-19 lockdown. The program offers training in soft skills and technical skills, sex education, mentoring, and job-finding assistance. To measure the effects of the program, the study conducts a randomized control trial with 600 vulnerable adolescents. The results indicate that seven months after its completion, the program increased girls' earnings and decreased violence targeting females. Violence is measured with both direct self-report questions and list experiments. These findings suggest that empowerment programs can reduce the level of violence experienced by young females during high-risk periods.

Suggested Citation

  • Gulesci,Selim & Beccar,Manuela Puente & Ubfal,Diego Javier, 2021. "Can Youth Empowerment Programs Reduce Violence against Girls during the COVID-19 Pandemic ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9547, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9547
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    2. Ubfal, Diego, 2024. "What Works in Supporting Women-Led Businesses?," IZA Discussion Papers 16950, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Stephen Machin & Matteo Sandi & Steve Machin, 2024. "Crime and Education," CESifo Working Paper Series 11450, CESifo.
    4. Calderone, Margherita & Fiala, Nathan & Melyoki, Lemayon Lemilia & Schoofs, Annekathrin & Steinacher, Rachel, 2022. "Making intense skills training work at scale: Evidence on business and labor market outcomes in Tanzania," Ruhr Economic Papers 950, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    5. Argenis P. Vergara-Torres & Verónica Ortiz-Rodríguez & Orlando Reyes-Hernández & Jeanette M. López-Walle & Raquel Morquecho-Sánchez & José Tristán, 2022. "Validation and Factorial Invariance of the Life Skills Ability Scale in Mexican Higher Education Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-13, February.
    6. Gu, Xin & Li, Hao & Peng, Langchuan, 2022. "The anti-domestic violence law and women's welfare: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 1-16.
    7. Ann M. Furbush & Anna Josephson & Talip Kilic & Jeffrey D. Michler, 2024. "Coping or Hoping? Livelihood Diversification and Food Insecurity in the COVID-19 Pandemic," Papers 2409.02285, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational Populations; Education For All; Education for Development (superceded); Social Cohesion; Social Conflict and Violence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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