Football-Induced Domestic Violence and Female Activism

• In Event: Corruption, Crime and Politics in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

How do women react to an increase in the salience of the problem of domestic violence (DV) in their community? How does a shock increasing their grievance modify their attitudes regarding gender norms, political preferences, and political participation? Several studies have identified a link between competitive sports events and DV, especially in the case of football (soccer) and intimate partner violence in Europe and the United States, and when alcohol is involved. Conventional wisdom and news reports suggest the same trend exists in Latin America, with reported increases of around 25% in days of important matches for the Brazilian league, and up to 38% when the Colombian national team played in the 2014 World Cup. In this project, I exploit that link to instrumentalize a shock in violence against women and explore whether and how situations that make their grievance more salient lead to (1) the first steps in activism and the creation of movement networks, and (2) changes in political attitudes and preferences. Taking the discussion from a framing of women as victims to women as advocates of themselves and allies in a network of support and gender solidarity. Furthermore, it centers the fight against gender-based violence as a collective endeavor, in which an increase in the salience of violence affects and mobilizes women as a whole and not only the victims. Using administrative data from the Americas and Europe, and original experimental and survey data collected around the Super Bowl, I test under what conditions a shock in DV promotes female activism and increases support for candidates and agendas improving women's position in society, and in which the violence leads women to retreat into their historically submissive position or limit their political participation.

Author

• Julieta Valenzuela, New York University