Publication: Safety First: Perceived Risk of Street Harassment and Educational Choices of Women
Loading...
Published
2021-07
ISSN
Date
2021-07-22
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This paper examines the long-term consequences of unsafe public spaces for women. It combines student-level survey data, a mapping of potential travel routes to all the colleges in the choice set, and crowdsourced mobile application safety data from Delhi. The findings show that women choose a college in the bottom half of the quality distribution over a college in the top quintile to feel safer while traveling, relative to men with comparable choice sets who choose a college in the top one-third of the distribution over a college in the top quintile. These findings have implications beyond women’s human capital attainment, such as their participation in the labor force.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Borker, Girija. 2021. Safety First: Perceived Risk of Street Harassment and Educational Choices of Women. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9731. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36004 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Climate and Social Sustainability in Fragility, Conflict, and Violence Contexts(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-07)Climate change is widely recognized as a driver of violent conflict, but its broader social effects remain less understood. Ignoring these dimensions risks a vicious cycle where climate policies might undermine socially just adaptation. Evidence is still limited on how climate shocks influence political participation, trust, or migration. This paper helps fill that gap by examining links between climate change, conflict, and social sustainability, with a focus on inclusion, resilience, cohesion, and legitimacy. Using secondary data from 2019–24, the study applies simple correlation-based methods to test three hypotheses on the nature, severity, and composition of these associations. The analysis combines multiple climate impact measures, new conflict classifications, recent social sustainability frameworks, and controls for population and geography. The results reveal strong correlations—not causation—between climate events and contexts of fragility, conflict, and violence. Climate impacts are most pronounced in both national and subnational conflict settings. The study also finds robust links between fragility, conflict, and violence and low levels of social sustainability, reflecting its role as both a driver and consequence of conflict. Some dimensions—such as violent events and insecurity—appear weaker in areas most affected by climate shocks. Two of the hypotheses are supported, and one remains inconclusive.Publication The Macroeconomic Implications of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Options(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-29)Estimating the macroeconomic implications of climate change impacts and adaptation options is a topic of intense research. This paper presents a framework in the World Bank's macrostructural model to assess climate-related damages. This approach has been used in many Country Climate and Development Reports, a World Bank diagnostic that identifies priorities to ensure continued development in spite of climate change and climate policy objectives. The methodology captures a set of impact channels through which climate change affects the economy by (1) connecting a set of biophysical models to the macroeconomic model and (2) exploring a set of development and climate scenarios. The paper summarizes the results for five countries, highlighting the sources and magnitudes of their vulnerability --- with estimated gross domestic product losses in 2050 exceeding 10 percent of gross domestic product in some countries and scenarios, although only a small set of impact channels is included. The paper also presents estimates of the macroeconomic gains from sector-level adaptation interventions, considering their upfront costs and avoided climate impacts and finding significant net gross domestic product gains from adaptation opportunities identified in the Country Climate and Development Reports. Finally, the paper discusses the limits of current modeling approaches, and their complementarity with empirical approaches based on historical data series. The integrated modeling approach proposed in this paper can inform policymakers as they make proactive decisions on climate change adaptation and resilience.Publication Institutional Capacity for Policy Implementation: An Analytical Framework(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-07)State capacity is an important prerequisite for policy implementation, yet at the country level it is difficult to measure, assess, and reform. This paper proposes a focus on institutional capacity: the ability of public institutions to implement the specific policy mandates for which they are responsible. Based on a review of existing literature, the paper defines the different dimensions that compose institutional capacity and groups them into two cross-cutting categories: organizational dimensions (personnel, financial resources, information systems, and management practices) and governance dimensions (transparency, independence, and accountability). The paper proposes measures for organizational and governance dimensions using existing data, shows intra-institutional variation of these measures within countries, and discusses how new data could be collected for better measurement of these concepts. Finally, the paper illustrates how the framework can be used to diagnose the sources of common problems related to weak policy implementation.Publication South Africa’s Fragmented Cities: The Unequal Burden of Labor Market Frictions(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-08)Using high-resolution administrative, census, and satellite data, this paper shows that South African cities are characterized by spatial mismatches between where people live and where jobs are located, relative to 20 global peers. Areas within 5 kilometers of commercial centers have 9,300 fewer residents per square kilometer than expected, which is 60 percent below the global median. Poor, dense neighborhoods are most affected. In Johannesburg, a 10-percentile increase in distance from the nearest business hub corresponds to a 3.7-percentile drop in asset wealth (a proxy of household wellbeing) and 4.9-percentile drop in employment. In Cape Town, the declines are 4.0 and 3.7 percentiles, respectively. Employment is 87 percent lower in the poorest decile than the richest in Johannesburg and 61 percent lower in Cape Town. These findings suggest that South Africa’s spatial organization of people and economic activity constrains agglomeration and reinforces inequality. This methodology provides a scalable and standardized data-driven framework to analyze spatial accessibility and agglomeration frictions in complex, data-constrained urban systems.Publication Investment in Emerging and Developing Economies(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-07)The world faces a pressing challenge to meet key development objectives amid slowing growth and rising macroeconomic and geopolitical risks. With the number of job seekers rising rapidly, infrastructure shortfalls continuing to be large, and climate costs mounting, the case for a significant investment push has never been stronger. Yet the capacity to respond in many emerging markets and developing economies has eroded. Since the global financial crisis, investment growth has slowed to about half its pace in the 2000s, with both public and private investment weakening. Foreign direct investment inflows—a critical source of capital, technology, and managerial know-how—have also fallen sharply and become increasingly concentrated, leaving low-income countries with only a marginal share. The risks of further retrenchment are significant, as trade tensions, policy uncertainty, and elevated debt levels continue to weigh on investment. Reigniting momentum will require ambitious domestic reforms to strengthen institutions, rebuild macro-fiscal stability, and deepen trade and investment integration—the foundations of a supportive business climate. At the same time, international cooperation is indispensable. A renewed commitment to a predictable system of cross-border trade and investment flows, combined with scaled-up financial support and sustained technical assistance, is essential to help emerging markets and developing economies—especially low-income countries and economies in fragile and conflict situations—bridge financing gaps and implement the domestic reforms needed to restore investment as an engine of growth, jobs, and development.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Sexual and Gender-Based Violence : What is the World Bank Doing and What Have We Learned, A Strategic Review(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-11)Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is the most prevalent form of gender inequality. More than one third of the women in the world have experienced some form of gender based violence. The impacts of such violence extend far beyond the individual survivors, affecting households and communities, and spanning across generations. SGBV is widely recognized as a development constraint that falls within the World Bank's mandate. This report is an effort to take stock of the experience of the World Bank in addressing SGBV, from 2008 to 2013, in order to capture lessons for engaging more strategically on this issue across the Bank portfolio. The report elaborates on the prevalence of SGBV, the methodology adopted for the purpose of this review, an overview of World Bank activities for SGBV, lessons learned, addressing SGBV in design and implementation, cross-cutting and operational lessons, conclusions and recommendations.Publication A Gender Assessment of Mumbai's Public Transport(Washington, DC, 2011-06)This report provides: a high-level understanding on women's travel patterns that builds the foundation for understanding the ways in which they use public transport and the degree to which this is met by the public transport systems; and a first-cut view on women's priorities in public transport and potential ideas for addressing them. The purpose of this report is to initiate a dialog on these questions and begin to develop a picture of the role transport currently plays in women's lives with an understanding of the further role it can play, given women's specific needs. This study was carried out in Mumbai. Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the commercial and entertainment capital of India. Throughout this report the authors has used the term 'women' to refer to women and girls above the age of 16 as several of our survey respondents are students between the ages of 17 and 21. However, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the public transport needs of school- children; many of them use public transport to go to better schools that are father away from their homes. The study was on public buses and trains, however, other modes of public transport available in the city but not included in the study are black and yellow metered taxis and auto- rickshaws.Publication Gender Dimensions of Trade Facilitation and Logistics : A Guidance Note(Washington, DC, 2012-04)Gender equality is a vital instrument for development. In trade related interventions, taking gender equality into account not only spurs country competitiveness, but also helps obtain better outcomes. The World Bank's international trade department and the gender and development unit in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management network are collaborating to produce guidance notes in order to help people working in the field identify and assess the gender dimensions of trade projects. This guidance note focuses on trade facilitation and logistics initiatives, which seek to improve customs and border management, trade infrastructure, port efficiency, transport security, logistics and transport services, regional trade corridors and transit and multimodal transport. The guidance note demonstrates why gender matters for trade facilitation and logistics and how gender dimensions can be integrated into trade facilitation and logistics initiatives. The ultimate objective of the note is to support World Bank staff to enhance the effectiveness of the World Banks's trade-related work by integrating a gender perspective into trade-related policy dialogue, and the design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of trade facilitation and logistics initiatives.Publication Assessing the Enabling Governance Environment to Promote and Enforce Women's Rights in the Southern Caucasus(Washington, DC, 2006-08)After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia experienced a sharp decline in economic output, prolonged regional conflicts resulting in great numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, the deterioration of social protection systems, and devastating natural disasters. These circumstances resulted in a dramatic increase in poverty and a decline in the human development index. Poverty has greatly affected women and introduced numerous obstacles and challenges in the promotion of gender equality and advancement of women's rights. Furthermore, women face new challenges with regard to issues such as human trafficking, rights of IDPs, and peacekeeping initiatives. Regional cooperation is necessary to address these issues. This project set out to assess the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to meet the pressing needs for legal literacy, legal aid, and improved access to justice and legal services for poor women in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The primary objectives were as follows: identify laws and institutions that promote women's rights; identify and disseminate successful initiatives that promote women's legal rights and legal literacy and facilitate their access to legal services; and strengthen collaboration among groups working on gender issues in prioritizing women's legal rights. This report is organized around three key dimensions of gender equality: the status of women as far as human capital development is concerned, their status in terms of access to productive resources, and their status and protection under the law.Publication Gender and Public Transport : Kathmandu, Nepal(Nepal, 2013)This study was commissioned by The World Bank as part of the research to feed into the development of the Government of Nepal's national transport management strategy. The overall strategy vision is 'to develop safe, efficient and environmentally friendly transport'. Under the second pillar of the draft strategy which refers to 'management of road transport', there is specific reference to the particular needs of women in transport. The study took place between October and December, 2013 and comprised a review of secondary data and the collection of primary data via a questionnaire survey of public transport users in the Kathmandu valley, qualitative conversations and focus group discussions with users and non-users of public transport as well as key informant interviews with transport operators, police and relevant Government department staff and supplemented by participant observation. The questionnaire survey was carried out with 470 people (60 percent women) and qualitative conversations involved a further 165 (58 percent women). The questionnaire was administered 'in situ' as people were commuting on public transport at different times of the day and on different transport routes in and around the city.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, October 2025: Jobs(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-10-07)GDP growth in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region remains above the global average but is projected to slow down in 2025 and even further in 2026. The sluggishness is due to a less favorable external environment—rising trade restrictions, easing but still elevated global uncertainty, and slowing global growth—as well as persistent domestic difficulties. Today, many people are in low-productivity or informal jobs, and many of the young cannot find any jobs. The class of people vulnerable to falling into poverty is now larger than the middle class in most countries. In a region that thrived because export-oriented, labor-intensive growth created more productive jobs, firms must deal with higher tariffs and workers must contend with the growing use of robots, AI and digital platforms. More productive jobs would be created by reforms to enhance economic opportunity, human capacity and their virtuous interplay.Publication Commodity Markets Outlook, October 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-10-29)Commodity prices are expected to decline by about 7 percent overall this year, reflecting subdued global economic activity, elevated trade tensions and policy uncertainty, ample global supply of oil, and weather-related supply shocks. In 2026, commodity prices are forecast to fall by a further 7 percent, a fourth consecutive year of decline, as global growth remains sluggish and the oil market oversupplied. Energy price movements are envisaged to continue contributing to global disinflation in 2026. Metals and minerals prices are expected to remain stable in 2026, while agricultural prices are projected to edge down, primarily due to strong supply conditions. Precious metals prices are expected to rise another 5 percent, after a historically large, investment-driven rally of about 40 percent in 2025. Risks to the commodity price projections are tilted to the downside. Key downside risks include weaker-than-expected global growth, a longer-than-assumed period of economic policy uncertainty, and additional oversupply of oil. Upside risks include intensifying geopolitical tensions, the market impact of additional oil sanctions, supply reductions stemming from additional trade restrictions, unfavorable weather conditions, faster-than-expected rollout of new data centers. Commodity price volatility in recent years has revived interest in supply management via international commodity agreements. Historical experience, however, shows that the most effective policy is to promote diversification, innovation, transparency, and market-based pricing—measures that build lasting resilience to commodity price volatility.Publication Impact Evaluation in Practice, Second Edition(Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank, 2016-09-13)The second edition of the Impact Evaluation in Practice handbook is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to impact evaluation for policy makers and development practitioners. First published in 2011, it has been used widely across the development and academic communities. The book incorporates real-world examples to present practical guidelines for designing and implementing impact evaluations. Readers will gain an understanding of impact evaluations and the best ways to use them to design evidence-based policies and programs. The updated version covers the newest techniques for evaluating programs and includes state-of-the-art implementation advice, as well as an expanded set of examples and case studies that draw on recent development challenges. It also includes new material on research ethics and partnerships to conduct impact evaluation. The handbook is divided into four sections: Part One discusses what to evaluate and why; Part Two presents the main impact evaluation methods; Part Three addresses how to manage impact evaluations; Part Four reviews impact evaluation sampling and data collection. Case studies illustrate different applications of impact evaluations. The book links to complementary instructional material available online, including an applied case as well as questions and answers. The updated second edition will be a valuable resource for the international development community, universities, and policy makers looking to build better evidence around what works in development.Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-10)The global economy is facing another substantial headwind, emanating largely from an increase in trade tensions and heightened global policy uncertainty. For emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), the ability to boost job creation and reduce extreme poverty has declined. Key downside risks include a further escalation of trade barriers and continued policy uncertainty. These challenges are exacerbated by subdued foreign direct investment into EMDEs. Global cooperation is needed to restore a more stable international trade environment and scale up support for vulnerable countries grappling with conflict, debt burdens, and climate change. Domestic policy action is also critical to contain inflation risks and strengthen fiscal resilience. To accelerate job creation and long-term growth, structural reforms must focus on raising institutional quality, attracting private investment, and strengthening human capital and labor markets. Countries in fragile and conflict situations face daunting development challenges that will require tailored domestic policy reforms and well-coordinated multilateral support.Publication Future Jobs: Robots, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Platforms in East Asia and Pacific(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-19)People in East Asia and Pacific (EAP) countries have prospered over the last few decades because of the growth in productive jobs. Do industrial robots, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital platforms threaten that development model? "Future Jobs" presents evidence that new technologies have thus far boosted employment. Increases in productivity and scale have outweighed the labor-displacing effects of automation technologies. However, the benefits have been uneven, favoring skilled workers while some less-skilled workers, in more routine and manual jobs, have been pushed into the informal sector. Digital platforms have generated new opportunities for the hitherto marginalized but also created insecurity for incumbent workers. Looking ahead, digitization will enhance the tradability of services, and AI will transform the production processes. EAP countries can benefit by equipping their workforce with the necessary skills and opening their long-protected services sectors to trade and investment. Policy makers, researchers, and businesses will find in this book both insights and questions on how best to harness the potential of new technologies to sustain prosperity in EAP countries.