Rewiring Gender Norms: Causal Evidence on Internet Exposure and Justification of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

This paper evaluates the causal impact of women's exposure to the internet on their attitudes towards intimate partner violence (IPV) using data from the most recent round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5). To address potential endogeneity, we exploit exogenous variation in district-level mobile tower density in India as an instrument for women's internet exposure. The instrumental variables estimation provides robust evidence that a woman's exposure to internet reduces her likelihood of justifying IPV by 21 percentage points. We also provide suggestive evidence that higher awareness and physical mobility are potential mechanisms through which internet exposure shapes attitudes. Our findings highlight the transformative potential of digital connectivity in challenging regressive gender norms.