Does the Gender Wage Gap Influence Intimate Partner Violence in Brazil?

Abstract

Greater gender equality in wages may reduce Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) by improving women’s economic opportunities and enabling them to leave abusive relationships. On the other hand, increases in women’s income may trigger use of violence as an extractive mechanism or as an alternative way to assert superiority for men once economic superiority is challenged. Using panel data from Brazil, we test if the gender wage ratio influences IPV, as measured in three types of administrative data: homicides, overnight hospitalizations for assault, and mandatory reports of IPV by healthcare providers. More wage equality leads to a reduction in violence against women in settings where income is likely to be a binding constraint for leaving an abusive relationship—in low-income settings and among younger women.