What happens when a neighborhood gets access to electricity? We would expect people’s quality of life to improve and for them to feel safer. So why did these economists find that rural electrification increased intimate partner violence (IPV)?
Roughly, 30% of women in India report experiencing intimate partner violence. Most of the research in this field focuses on cash transfers, legal reform, and information campaigns to empower women. However, no one has looked at streetlights. Shreyasee Das and her coauthors asked: Does putting a household on the grid make women safer, or more exposed to risk?
In this conversation, development economist Shreyasee Das (Temple University) works through her paper on rural electrification in India, part of her “Lights On for Safety” research. The outcome is ambiguous. Does electricity increase independence and bargaining power inside the house, or does it lead to more exposure once women move through public space? That ambiguity is what makes for good research.
Resources
Das, Shreyasee, Sayli Javadekar, & Narbadeshwar Mishra. “Lights On for Safety: Evaluating the Linkages Between Electrification and Violence Against Women.” Working paper.