MEDIA REPORTING OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION DECISION IN RURAL BANGLADESH

Abstract

Perceived fear of sexual violence victimization can have strong negative impacts on female labor force participation (FLFP). This fear is particularly dire in cultures that value female purity and stigmatize victimization. This study finds a 3.4 percentage points (5.73% of the sample average) decline in paid employment of women in rural Bangladesh, with a one standard deviation increase in media-reported lagged local sexual assaults. Rural women substitute paid employment for unpaid labor, which has implications for their autonomy and empowerment. Media reporting of sexual assaults perpetrated by people in authority have a stronger impact suggesting the disruption of institutional trust to be a potential pathway of aggravating one's perceived fear of victimization. The results are robust to controlling for exogenous gender-specific labor demand shocks and sensitivity checks. A better understanding of how this fear manifests is needed to reduce such non-pecuniary costs of paid employment and increase FLFP.