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Public Work Programs and Gender-Based Violence: Evidence from Lao PDR

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dc.contributor.authorPerova, Elizaveta
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, Erik
dc.contributor.authorMannava, Aneesh
dc.contributor.authorReynolds, Sarah
dc.contributor.authorTeman, Alana
dc.date.accessioned2021-06-10T14:18:51Z
dc.date.available2021-06-10T14:18:51Z
dc.date.issued2021-06
dc.description.abstractPublic workfare programs targeted at women have the potential to empower them economically by providing jobs. However, the impact of public workfare programs on gender-based violence is theoretically ambiguous. They may contribute to its reduction through lowering financial stress or improving a woman’s bargaining position due to independent income. Yet, a woman’s higher income may also create incentives to use violence for extractive purposes; putting women in a position of provider at home and in male dominated sectors outside the home may create a backlash because these positions violate gender norms. Working outside the home could reduce exposure to an abusive spouse, but it may increase harassment or assault outside the household. This paper analyzes the impacts of a public workfare program in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, a lower-middle-income Asian country, where the government randomized implementation of a public workfare program targeted at rural women who received an average payment of US$550 over 18 months. The findings show that the program was successful in increasing female income, but it did not change women’s experience of gender-based violence: comparing program participants and control group women, there is no differences in self-reports of intimate partner violence (controlling behavior, emotional violence, or physical violence), violence from other members of the household, or violence from perpetrators outside the household. Some design aspects of this particular program may have resulted in the lack of impacts on gender-based violence. Changes in the design and implementation of public workfare programs are needed for them to work as a mechanism to reduce gender-based violence.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/543961623172043096/Public-Work-Programs-and-Gender-Based-Violence-Evidence-from-Lao-PDR
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-9691
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/35728
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPolicy Research Working Paper;No. 9691
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo
dc.subjectPUBLIC WORK PROGRAM
dc.subjectGENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
dc.subjectRANDOMIZED INTERVENTION
dc.subjectGENDER INNOVATION LAB
dc.subjectWORKFARE
dc.subjectINTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE
dc.titlePublic Work Programs and Gender-Based Violenceen
dc.title.subtitleEvidence from Lao PDRen
dc.typeWorking Paperen
dc.typeDocument de travailfr
dc.typeDocumento de trabajoes
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crossref.titlePublic Work Programs and Gender-Based Violence : Evidence from Lao PDR
okr.date.disclosure2021-06-08
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-10T11:13:23.738094Z
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.doctypePublications & Research::Policy Research Working Paper
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/543961623172043096/Public-Work-Programs-and-Gender-Based-Violence-Evidence-from-Lao-PDR
okr.guid543961623172043096
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-9691
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum090224b0886acd54_2_0
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum33153016
okr.identifier.reportWPS9691
okr.importedtrueen
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/543961623172043096/pdf/Public-Work-Programs-and-Gender-Based-Violence-Evidence-from-Lao-PDR.pdfen
okr.region.administrativeEast Asia and Pacific
okr.region.countryLao People's Democratic Republic
okr.topicGender::Gender and Development
okr.topicGender::Gender and Poverty
okr.topicGender::Gender and Social Development
okr.topicSocial Development::Social Conflict and Violence
okr.topicSocial Protections and Labor::Employment and Unemployment
okr.topicSocial Protections and Labor::Labor Policies
okr.unitGender Innovation Lab, East Asia and the Pacific Region
relation.isSeriesOfPublication26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
relation.isSeriesOfPublication.latestForDiscovery26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
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