We evaluate an intervention by Jana Sanskriti (JS), a non-governmental organization in India, that uses community-based participatory theater to reduce violence against women. Using a survey of married women aged 18-49 in 92 villages, we find, on average, JS reduced the proportion that experienced physical abuse by 9 percentage points from a baseline of 33%. In the treated villages, the effect was a reduction by 12 percentage points from a baseline of 35%. We also find JS increased several other measures of women's empowerment. Since the JS-intervention was not randomized, we obtain these results by adjusting for potential confounders that JS informed us. We find that strong unadjusted confounders are needed to overturn these causal effects. 

Jyotsna Jalan is Professor Emeritus at the Center for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta (CSSSC, India). Previously (2005-2025) she has been a Professor of Economics at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta and the Project Director of Centre for Training and Research in Pubic Finance and Policy (CTRPFP), a research unit within the Centre started with an endowment from the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. She has also worked at the Indian Statistical Institute in New Delhi (1998-2005) and The World Bank Research Department in Washington DC (1992-1998). Her research interests are in the methodological aspects of impact evaluation and its applications to issues related to poverty, health, education, and gender. She received her doctorate degree in Economics from the University of California at San Diego. She completed her post graduate degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics and her  undergraduate degree in Economics from Presidency College, Calcutta.