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What is the impact of women’s economic empowerment on gender-based violence?

December 10, 2020

From 12pm to 1:30pm (EST).

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The BBL will present novel rigorous evidence on the relationship between gender wage gap and GBV in Brazil and results from an randomized control trial of a public works program in Lao PDR.

The combination of studies highlights differences between types of labor market engagement and focuses on the importance of context.

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  • There is no consensus on the impacts of women’s economic empowerment on gender-based violence (GBV). 

    Higher ability to leave an abusive relationship because of greater economic empowerment may improve women’s situation within relationship (Manser and Brown, 1980). 

    On the other hand, when women have more resources, men may use instrumental violence to extract these resources (Bloch and Rao, 2006). Or, upset by women’s empowerment, men may attempt to restore existing gender structure of male dominance through violence (Buller et al., 2018). 

    Empirical evidence on women’s labor market work is just starting to emerge!

  • 12:00pm - Welcome remarks by session Chair Ximena V. Del Carpio, Practice Manager, Poverty and Equity Global Practice for LAC

    12:10pm - Presenter: Sarah Reynolds, PhD in Economic Development, Researcher, University of California, Berkeley

    • In Brazil, we find compelling evidence that improving wage equality for women results in less violence at multiple levels of severity, as measured using health data.  However, for moderately severe violence, this relationship only holds in municipalities with women's police stations; in municipalities without women's police stations, violence increases with wage equality. This finding highlights the need for civil and legal policy to accompany economic policy for promoting women’s empowerment.

    12:30pm - Presenter: Elizaveta Perova, Sr. Economist EAPCE and Lead of the EAP Gender Innovation Lab, World Bank

    • This presentation will discuss the results of a recent impact evaluation of public works programs and women’s empowerment in Lao PDR. The combination of this study and the study in Brazil will highlight differences between types of labor market engagement and will focus on the importance of context.

    12:50pm - Panel discussion - Moderator: Diana Arango, Sr. GBV Specialist and Development Specialist, World Bank. Discussants: Paula Tavares, Sr. Private Sector Development Specialist, World Bank, and Grace Justa, Director for Policies to Fight Violence Against Women, Ministry of Family, Women, and Human Rights – Federal Government of Brazil

    1:10pm - Q&A

    1:25pm - Closing remarks by Jacobus Joost de Hoop, Senior Economist with the Poverty and Equity Global Practice for LAC and co-lead of the LAC Gender Innovation Lab

    1:30pm - End of event