02390cas a2200313 a 4500 AALejournalIMF022206 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781557754073 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Ouedraogo, Rasmane. The Heavy Economic Toll of Gender-based Violence : Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa / Rasmane Ouedraogo, David Stenzel. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2021. 1 online resource (39 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns have led to a rise in gender-based violence. In this paper, we explore the economic consequences of violence against women in sub-Saharan Africa using large demographic and health survey data collected pre-pandemic. Relying on a two-stage least square method to address endogeneity, we find that an increase in the share of women subject to violence by 1 percentage point can reduce economic activities (as proxied by nightlights) by up to 8 percent. This economic cost results from a significant drop in female employment. Our results also show that violence against women is more detrimental to economic development in countries without protective laws against domestic violence, in natural resource rich countries, in countries where women are deprived of decision-making power and during economic downturns. Beyond the moral imperative, the findings highlight the importance of combating violence against women from an economic standpoint, particularly by reinforcing laws against domestic violence and strengthening women's decision-making power. Mode of access: Internet Domestic Abuse imf Economics of Gender imf Family Structure imf Marital Dissolution imf Marriage imf Stenzel, David. IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2021/277 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2021/277/001.2021.issue-277-en.xml IMF e-Library