Effects of female political leaders and child socialisation on Gender-Based Violence in India

Abstract

This paper studies the risk of domestic violence between husband & wife in India, and the acceptance or rejection of such violence. It investigates how child socialisation influences a person’s attitudes and behaviour in adult life, via a maladaptive pathway. Specifically, it tests the hypothesis that attitudes of men to domestic violence are influenced by whether or not a female politician took on a powerful political role, when they were about 5 years old. Empirical evidence is reported, from ‘Demographic and Health Surveys’ in India. Results indicate that election of a female Prime Minister or President does appear to affect boys; such effects can be detected at the time of interview, sometimes decades after the election of a female leader. This paper does not test effects of childhood socialisation on girls.