The Power of Political Voice: Women's Political Representation and Crime in India

TLDR

The study uses state‑level variation in political reforms to examine how increased female representation in local government affects crimes against women and explores alternative forms of political representation. The authors analyze the impact of different forms of political representation, including local council membership versus higher‑level leadership positions. An increase in female local government representation raises reported crimes against women—primarily due to greater reporting—while having no effect on crimes against men or gender‑neutral crimes, and local council membership has a larger impact than higher‑level leadership. JEL codes: D72, J16, K42, O15, O17.

Abstract

Using state-level variation in the timing of political reforms, we find that an increase in female representation in local government induces a large and significant rise in documented crimes against women in India. Our evidence suggests that this increase is good news, driven primarily by greater reporting rather than greater incidence of such crimes. In contrast, we find no increase in crimes against men or in gender-neutral crimes. We also examine the effectiveness of alternative forms of political representation. Large scale membership of women in local councils affects crime against them more than their presence in higher-level leadership positions. (JEL D72, J16, K42, O15, O17)