By Anne Summers, Thomas Shortridge, Kristen Sobeck

Whichever way you look at it, many women are paying a huge economic price in addition to the physical, emotional and psychological damage done to them by domestic violence. It is no accident that employment and education – the pathway to better employment – are targeted by perpetrators as a prime means of depleting or even destroying women’s ability to be financially self-sufficient.

The data used in this report enables the authors, for the first time, to quantify the economic impact of domestic violence on Australian women. The report sets out in detail how large numbers of women have not attained a degree, have left the labour force, have reduced their working hours, or have taken time off work– all because of domestic violence.

The authors identify changes that need to be made across the following areas: paid domestic violence leave policie tthe operation of paid domestic violence leave multiple avenues of support are needed support to (re-)enter employment the Leaving Violence Program.

Sydney: University of Technology Sydney 2025. 52p.

By Sofia Amaral, Aixa Garcia-Ramos, Selim Gulesci, Sarita Oré, Alejandra Ramos, & Maria Micaela Sviatschi

Gender-based violence (GBV) at schools is a pervasive problem that affects millions of adolescent girls worldwide. In partnership with the Ministry of Education in Mozambique, we developed an intervention to increase the capacity of key school personnel to address GBV and to improve students’ awareness as well as proactive behaviors. To understand the role of GBV on girls’ education, we randomized not only exposure to the intervention but also whether the student component was targeted to girls only, boys only, or both. Our findings indicate a reduction in sexual violence by teachers and school staff against girls, regardless of the targeted gender group, providing evidence of the role of improving the capacity of key school personnel to deter perpetrators. Using administrative records, we also find that in schools where the intervention encouraged proactive behavior by girls, there was an increase in their school enrollment, largely due to an increased propensity for GBV reporting by victims. Our findings suggest that effectively mitigating violence to improve girls’ schooling requires a dual approach: deterring potential perpetrators and fostering a proactive stance among victims, such as increased reporting.

CESifo Working Paper Series No. 11506, Nov 2024, 64p.