Gender-Based Violence and Judge Responses

In China, only 37% of divorce petitions citing domestic violence are granted, with evidence suggesting that judges often prioritize preserving marriages even in cases of abuse. We investigate whether judicial decision-making can shift in response to broader social change. Exploiting the rise of the #MeToo movement, which reshaped societal perceptions of gender-based violence, we find that female judges in China became 8 percentage points more likely to grant divorces in domestic violence cases. These results suggest that judicial attitudes and actions on gender-based violence cases are malleable.