Violence Against Women: Exploring the Mechanisms Underlying Reporting Behavior

Last registered on May 26, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Violence Against Women: Exploring the Mechanisms Underlying Reporting Behavior
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015753
Initial registration date
April 07, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 15, 2025, 2:20 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
May 26, 2025, 12:39 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Spain
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Sara Martinez-de-Morentin
Affiliation
Universidad Publica de Navarra
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Rebeca Echavarri
PI Affiliation
Universidad Publica de Navarra
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Ariadna Garcia-Prado
PI Affiliation
Universidad Publica de Navarra
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Fernanda Gutierrez-Navratil Gutierrez-Navratil
PI Affiliation
Universidad de Oviedo
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2025-04-09
End date
2025-04-10
Keywords
Behavior, Crime, Violence, & Conflict, Gender
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
In a previous study (AEARCTR-0011814), we analyzed the importance of three factors in the reporting behavior of witnesses of violence against women: whether witnesses are required to identify and report the aggressor, whether they must disclose their own identity, and whether they have to report to the police. We found that reporting increased when the aggressor remained anonymous and when the police was the reporting institution. In this study, we aim to explore the mechanisms underlying these results, focusing on the role of fear as an emotion that may explain the effect of aggressor anonymity and the involvement of the police as the reporting institution.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Echavarri, Rebeca et al. 2025. "Violence Against Women: Exploring the Mechanisms Underlying Reporting Behavior." AEA RCT Registry. May 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15753-3.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-04-09
Intervention End Date
2025-04-10

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Willingness to intervene under different reporting options and fear induction treatment
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Participants will read a realistic and clearly explained hypothetical scenario (a vignette) and, based on this context, will decide whether to intervene or not. They will be randomly assigned to one of four choice conditions.
Experimental Design Details
Participants will read a realistic and clearly explained scenario of violence against women (a vignette) and, based on this context, will decide whether or not to intervene. Specifically, participants will be presented with a choice task corresponding to one of the following scenarios:

1. Reporting to social services, identifying themselves and the aggressor in order to process a formal complaint, combined with exposure to a neutral video.
2. Reporting to social services, without identifying the aggressor, in order to process a formal complaint, combined with exposure to a neutral video.
3. Reporting to social services, identifying themselves and the aggressor to process a formal complaint, combined with exposure to a fear-eliciting video.
4. Reporting to social services, without identifying the aggressor to process a formal complaint, combined with exposure to a fear-eliciting video.

Each participant will be randomly assigned to one of these four scenarios.

Each participant receives an initial endowment of 10 euros. Participants who choose to intervene will give up part of the endowment (7 euros) in favor of a well-recognised NGO that helps victims of VAW. Those who decide not to intervene will keep the total endowment for themselves.

To enrich our capacity to interpret the results of this experiment, we complement this approach with a survey.
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
200 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
200 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
200 individuals, 50 per treatment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Committee of the Universidad Publica de Navarra
IRB Approval Date
2022-06-29
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
April 10, 2025, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
April 10, 2025, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
261 individuals
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
261 observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
1. Reporting to social services, identifying themselves and the aggressor in order to process a formal complaint, combined with exposure to a neutral video --> 59 individuals 2. Reporting to social services, without identifying the aggressor, in order to process a formal complaint, combined with exposure to a neutral video --> 65 individuals. 3. Reporting to social services, identifying themselves and the aggressor to process a formal complaint, combined with exposure to a fear-eliciting video --> 69 individuals. 4. Reporting to social services, without identifying the aggressor to process a formal complaint, combined with exposure to a fear-eliciting video --> 69 individuals.
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials