Safe spaces for children: School sanitation and sexual violence
Pei Gao, Aditi Kothari, and Yu-Hsiang Lei
European Economic Review 172 (2025): 104952
Abstract
This paper demonstrates the gendered impact of inadequate school sanitation, highlighting its link to sexual violence against children. Using panel analysis and a triple-difference strategy with district-year data, we find that constructing sex-specific toilets in schools significantly reduces child rapes, while having no effect on other sexual crimes (e.g., adult rape). The reduction is more pronounced in co-educational and secondary schools. Conversely, unisex toilets are ineffective, because girls feel unsafe to use them and continue defecating openly. Additionally, the deterrent effect of school sanitation is stronger in areas with more gender-equal norms, emphasizing the need for broad, culture-based preventive measures.