Reducing Violence Against Women: Evidence from Specialized Services in Guatemala

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States have instituted various programs to mitigate gender-based violence, from which at least one-third of women globally have suffered. While prior studies focusing on justice system interventions have yielded mixed results, the impact of health-based programs remains less understood. I evaluate the Guatemalan government’s network of specialized sexual violence clinics that serve as “one-stop shops,” jointly activating a medical and judicial response. Using original panel data on crimes and prosecutions and a difference-in-differences design that exploits temporal and spatial variation in the clinics’ rollout, I find that access to clinics significantly reduces sexual violence. This decline coincides with increased crime investigations and reduced social tolerance of gender-based violence, particularly among women. Drawing on qualitative work in the field, I argue that the primary mechanism is enforcement signaling: clinics coordinate interinstitutional responses that convey credible prosecution efforts. Descriptive evidence suggests that clinics may also shift community attitudes and empower victims. The findings underscore the promise of integrated specialized services for improving women’s physical security in high-violence settings.