What is the relationship between unemployment and rape? Evidence from a panel of European regions

This paper empirically analyzes the relationship between unemployment and rape in a panel of European regions. Results show that rape and unemployment are positively associated. Results are robust using alternative dependent variables, namely (i) the count of rape; (ii) the rape rate per 100,000 people. When applying gender-specific measures, only female unemployment appears to explain the positive association. Yet, the main findings are confirmed when using youth unemployment. Interestingly, only male youth unemployment seems to explain the positive association between rape and youth unemployment. Among control variables, interestingly, education is positively associated with rape. The reasonable interpretation is that education does not increase rape in itself but rather ‘reported rape’. As expected, measures of future economic opportunities are negatively associated with emergence of rape.