Unsafe daughters: sexual violence in public spheres and intrahousehold preference for sons

Rising non-partner sexual violence against young women is a serious concern for families with daughters in many countries, including India. This study examines short-term intrahousehold behavioral responses—specifically, shifts in son preference—to public incidents of sexual violence against women. Leveraging two distinct crime contexts in India—an acute episode of gang rape in West Bengal in 2012 and cumulative exposure to localized sexual crime incidents—we investigate how perceived public safety threats shape gendered fertility preferences. Our results show that the 2012 crime shock led to an 8.6% increase in reported son preference, relative to the pre-event mean of 0.545 in the comparison group. Additionally, we find suggestive evidence that an additional reported sexual violence case per 1000 women in a district is associated with a 6% increase in the male birth share, relative to a mean of 36% among women with a firstborn daughter. These findings point to a modest but meaningful link between local exposure to sexual violence and subsequent male-biased fertility behavior. Collectively, the results suggest that rising sexual violence in public spaces reinforces both reported and realized son preference among parents. We identify the increasing perceived safety cost of daughters as a potential underlying mechanism. Departing from prior literature that links historical son bias to gender-based violence, our findings highlight the role of contemporary safety concerns in shaping household-level gender bias in societies that place a high value on women’s chastity. Combating street harassment and improving women’s safety may therefore serve as a pathway to mitigate intrahousehold gender bias.