Violence against Women in Politics
78 Pages Posted: 21 Jul 2023 Last revised: 7 Apr 2025
There are 2 versions of this paper
Violence against Women in Politics
Number of pages: 78
Posted: 21 Jul 2023
Last Revised: 07 Apr 2025
You are currently viewing this paper
Downloads
800
Violence against Women in Politics
BAFFI CAREFIN Centre Research Paper No. 207
Number of pages: 82
Posted: 30 Sep 2023
Last Revised: 07 Nov 2024
Downloads
411
Date Written: August 8, 2023
Abstract
We present the first causal evidence that female politicians are more likely to face political violence. Using fourteen years of data on attacks against Italian politicians, we show that marginally elected female mayors—similar to men and elected in comparable towns—are three times as likely to be attacked. We find no gender differences in policy platforms, policymaking, performance, or corruption. Instead, violence emerges independently on women's choices, consistently with discrimination - rather than political influence - driving the gap in violence. Female mayors are less likely to seek re-election after attacks, highlighting violence’s role in perpetuating the gender gap.
Keywords: Women in Politics, Political Violence, Policymaking, Local Elections
JEL Classification: P00, H41, H50, H72, Z18
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Daniele, Gianmarco and Dipoppa, Gemma and Pulejo, Massimo, Violence against Women in Politics (August 8, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4508878 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4508878
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Feedback
Feedback to SSRN