Hidden benefits of peace: The case of sexual violence
The series Working Papers on Economics is published by the Office for Economic Studies at the Banco de la República (Central Bank of Colombia). The works published are provisional, and their authors are fully responsible for the opinions expressed in them, as well as for possible mistakes. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Banco de la República or its Board of Directors.
The series Borradores de Economía (Working Papers on Economics) contributes to the dissemination and promotion of the work by researchers from the institution. On multiple occasions, these works have been the result of collaborative work with individuals from other national or international institutions. This series is indexed at Research Papers in Economics (RePEc)
The opinions contained in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not commit Banco de la República or its Board of Directors.
Abstract
This paper studies the effect on sexual violence of Colombia’s recent peace negotiation between the government and the FARC insurgency. Using a matcheddifference-in-differences identification strategy, we find a significant reduction in sexual violence, measured as the count of sexual assaults per 100 thousand inhabitants, two years after the peace process was signed. During conflict, the rate of sexual violence was higher in municipalities with former FARC activity in contrast with municipalities in peace and remained higher immediately after the peace process was signed. However, two years after the signing of the agreement, the incidence of sexual assaults reduced significantly in the former FARC municipalities.
