Publication: The Silenced Women: Can Public Activism Stimulate Reporting of Violence against Women?
Date
2021-03
ISSN
Published
2021-03
Author(s)
Sahay, Abhilasha
Abstract
Although violence against women is
pervasive and can have severe adverse implications, it is
considerably underreported. This paper examines whether
public activism against such violence can stimulate
disclosure of socially sensitive crimes such as rape and
sexual assault. The analysis uses a quasi-experimental
setting arising from an infamous gang rape incident that
took place on a moving bus in Delhi in 2012. The incident
sparked widespread protests demarcating a nationwide ‘social
shock’. Exploiting regional variation in exposure to the
shock, the analysis finds an increase of 27 percent in
reported violence against women after the shock but no
change in gender-neutral crimes such as murder, robbery and
riots. Additional evidence -- generated from self-compiled
high frequency crime data -- suggests that the increase can
be attributed to a rise in reporting rather than an increase
in occurrence.
Citation
“Sahay, Abhilasha. 2021. The Silenced Women : Can Public Activism Stimulate Reporting of Violence against Women?. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9566. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35245 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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