Weekly Seminar
Date
24.01.2024
Schedule
12:00
Location
AMI-P0-Aula 02 - Edificio Amigos
Speaker
Eugenia Frezza (Trinity College Dublin)
Accepting the unacceptable: Does intimate partner violence shape the tolerance of violence?

I study whether intimate partner violence (IPV) has a causal effect on victims' tolerance towards it in a context where divorce is very costly. First, I show theoretically that tolerance of violence can serve as a coping mechanism, particularly under prolonged exposure to abuse. I empirically test this hypothesis in the context of India. To do so, I leverage variations in the minimum legal drinking, employing a regression discontinuity design and an event study approach. The findings show a 4-5 percentage point increase in wives' likelihood of experiencing IPV as their husbands attain the legal drinking age. In the short-run, this does not lead to a change in wives' IPV tolerance. To study the effect of prolonged exposure to IPV on attitudes, I compare couples living in states with different legal drinking ages. I find that earlier legal drinking increases the exposure to violence by up to 6 months, which in turn leads to a 0.3 standard deviation increase in wives' tolerance towards violence. These findings suggest that the longer the exposure to violence, the more the victims may normalise and justify violence inflicted on them as a coping mechanism.

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