Resumo

The UN (2020) defines violence against women as any act of gender-based violence that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or mental suffering for women, including threats, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private life. Brazil lives with a high level of violence against women, as shown by national and international data (Brasil, 2011). Many Brazilian municipalities have adopted as a strategy to combat violence against women to support and encourage the creation of pro-women institutions – IPM (Gomes & Avellaneda, 2021).

The present study seeks evidence that shows how local governments make decisions about how to tackle the problem of violence against women. The question that motivates this research can be posed as follows: Why do some municipalities have pro-women institutions (PWI) while others do not? Based on this question, the objective of this study is to test factors that influence the existence of PWI in Brazilian municipalities.

The study tests three different hypotheses for the research question. The first hypothesis is based on the theory of rational choice and says that the PWI are created in municipalities that have higher rates of violence against women. The second hypothesis, based on feminist theory, maintains that the creation of PWI depends on the cultural, economic, and social conditions of the local female population. And the third hypothesis (H3), based on the theory of political representation, argues that the political representation of women in local governments influences the existence of PWI.

To test the hypotheses, an inferential study was carried out with official secondary data collected in different databases, such as IBGE, TSE and DATASUS. The data refer to the 853 municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais (MG). The dependent variables of the research are eight different PWIs and the independent variables are of three categories, according to the hypotheses established in the research: violence against women, economic and social conditions of women, and political representation of women in the municipality. Several control variables were used.

Preliminary results seem to support hypotheses 1 and 2, indicating that the existence of PWI in the municipalities studied is influenced by the level of violence and by the economic and social conditions of the female population. On the other hand, the results do not support hypothesis 3, that is, the political representation of women in the municipalities seems to have no effect on the existence of the investigated PWI

The study tested the effects of economic, social, cultural, and political variables. The analysis was based on data from all 853 municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais. The results show that the economic and social conditions of the local female population were the variables that most influenced the existence of pro-women institutions in the investigated municipalities.

Brasil. 2011. Pacto Nacional pelo Enfrentamento à Violência contra as Mulheres. Brasília: Secretaria de Políticas para as Mulheres – Presidência da República. Gomes, A.; Avellaneda, C. 2021. The role of pro‑women institutions in addressing violence reports against women. Global Public Policy and Governance, 1(1), 39-60. World Health Organization – WHO. 2020. Violence against women. Retirado de: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women. Acessado em 01/03/2022.