Improving judicial protection in intimate partner violence cases: The role of specialized courts and judges
We study the large-scale implementation of a system of specialized domestic violence courts (SDVCs), an innovation in access to justice programs for potential victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and offenders. Using individual-level administrative data from the universe of civil domestic violence cases in Puerto Rico during the period 2014-2020, we leverage the staggered opening of SDVCs across judicial regions to examine the consequences for victims’ judicial protection and offender recidivism. Access to SDVCs leads to a considerable 8 percentage points increase in the probability that judges issue a protection order and a 1.7 percentage point (15 percent) decrease in victim and offender reappearance rates within one year of the start of the case. Effects are more pronounced for cases in which parties have children in common and in which access to SDVCs is more limited. Linking the case data to administrative and survey data on judges, we show that the priorities of judges assigned to SDVCs play a prominent role in explaining these outcomes.
About the speaker:
Gustavo J. Bobonis is Professor in the Department of Economics and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy of Development. His research focuses on economic development in the Americas and its relationship to politics and policy. His most recent work focuses on evaluating barriers to good government by investigating the complex relationships between voter patronage, poverty, local customs, and government responsiveness, and interventions to improve educational outcomes and women’s wellbeing in the context of Puerto Rico.
About HoSS:
The House of Sustainable Society (HoSS) is a multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder, social science research center at the Stockholm School of Economics focused on creating knowledge and impact to promote more sustainable markets. Our aim is to develop rigorous knowledge around how markets can be effectively advanced to support the transition to sustainable development.
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