Unintended Consequences of Lockdowns: COVID-19 and the Shadow Pandemic

Violence against women is a problem worldwide, with economic costs ranging from 1-4% of global GDP. Using variation in the intensity of government-mandated lock-downs in India, we show that domestic violence complaints increase 0.47 SD in districts with the strictest lockdown rules. We find similarl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNBER Working Paper Series
Main Authors Ravindran, Saravana, Shah, Manisha
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc 01.07.2020
Subjects
COVID-19
Domestic violence
Economic theory
Rape
Sex crimes
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Summary:Violence against women is a problem worldwide, with economic costs ranging from 1-4% of global GDP. Using variation in the intensity of government-mandated lock-downs in India, we show that domestic violence complaints increase 0.47 SD in districts with the strictest lockdown rules. We find similarly large increases in cyber-crime complaints. However, rape and sexual assault complaints decrease 0.4 SD in districts with the strictest lockdowns, consistent with decreased female mobility in public spaces, public transport, and workplaces. Longer-term analysis shows that in-creases in domestic violence complaints persist one year later, while other complaints related to rape, sexual assault, and cybercrimes return to pre-lockdown levels.
ISSN:0898-2937
DOI:10.3386/w27562