Citation

Díaz JJ, Saldarriaga V. J. Health Econ. 2023; 89: e102739.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jhealeco.2023.102739

PMID

36842349

Abstract

We investigate whether exposure to rainfall shocks affects the experience of physical intimate partner violence (P-IPV) among women in rural areas of the Peruvian Andes. Using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys over 2005-2014, we track changes in the probability that a woman experiences recent instances of P-IPV after being exposed to a rainfall shock during the last cropping season. Our results indicate that the probability that a woman experiences P-IPV increases by 8.5 percentage points (65 percent) after exposure to a dry, but not a wet, shock during the cropping season. We identify two complementary causal pathways of this effect: increased economic insecurity and poverty-related stress that deteriorates men's emotional well-being and mental health, and reduced female empowerment that affects women's ability to negotiate their preferences within the relationship.

Language: en

Keywords

Developing countries; Intimate partner violence; Violence against women; Rainfall shocks