Marching for Change: Quantifying the Effects of Women’s Rights Protests on Legislation and Femicide in Latin America (with Lily Medina Jara)
Contact for working paper. Do protests against violence toward women help reduce it, or do they exacerbate it? Over the past 20 years, mass demonstrations with feminist causes have dramatically increased across the region. These movements have advocated for critical legislative changes, including the legalization of abortion and the recognition of femicide as a distinct criminal offense. But how effective are these protests? We analyze their impact both on legislation and on (actual) violence against women. Using an instrumental variable, we provide the first cross-country evaluation of the effects of protest agenda-seeding on femicide and whether these protests directly influence legislation criminalizing violence against women. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on gendered social movements and policy change, offering insights into how grassroots activism can influence both legal frameworks and societal behavior.