Understanding and Preventing Gender-Based Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious societal issue with far-reaching consequences for victims and their children. In Sweden, nearly 30 percent of women report having experienced physical or sexual violence in an intimate relationship. This project aims to generate rigorous and policy-relevant evidence on the causes of IPV and the effectiveness of interventions:
• Study 1 examines intergenerational transmissions: Does growing up with an abusive father increase the risk of becoming a perpetrator or victim in adulthood?
• Study 2 evaluates the effectiveness of restraining orders: Do they improve victim outcomes, reduce perpetrator recidivism, and help break the intergenerational cycle of violence by removing violent fathers from the household?
• Study 3 estimates the impact of alcohol control policy: Does increased alcohol access raise IPV rates?
We use population-wide administrative data spanning several decades, linking IPV records with information on socioeconomic background, labor market outcomes, health, criminal history, and family ties. We also collect new data on restraining order applications and merge them with the administrative data. To identify the causal effects of restraining orders, we exploit the random assignment of applications to prosecutors with varying approval rates. To estimate the causal effects of alcohol access, we leverage a natural experiment in which alcohol retail stores in selected Swedish counties were permitted to open on weekends.
• Study 1 examines intergenerational transmissions: Does growing up with an abusive father increase the risk of becoming a perpetrator or victim in adulthood?
• Study 2 evaluates the effectiveness of restraining orders: Do they improve victim outcomes, reduce perpetrator recidivism, and help break the intergenerational cycle of violence by removing violent fathers from the household?
• Study 3 estimates the impact of alcohol control policy: Does increased alcohol access raise IPV rates?
We use population-wide administrative data spanning several decades, linking IPV records with information on socioeconomic background, labor market outcomes, health, criminal history, and family ties. We also collect new data on restraining order applications and merge them with the administrative data. To identify the causal effects of restraining orders, we exploit the random assignment of applications to prosecutors with varying approval rates. To estimate the causal effects of alcohol access, we leverage a natural experiment in which alcohol retail stores in selected Swedish counties were permitted to open on weekends.