What Did the Maoists Ever Do for Us? Education and Marriage of Women Exposed to Civil Conflict in Nepal

Between 1996 and 2006, Nepal experienced
violent civil conflict as a consequence of a Maoist
insurgency, which many argue also brought about an increase
in female empowerment. This paper exploits within and
between-district variation in the intensity of violence to
estimate the impact of conflict intensity on two key areas
of the life of women in Nepal, namely education and
marriage. Overall conflict intensity had a small, positive
effect on female educational attainment, whereas abductions
by Maoists had the reverse effect. Male schooling was not
significantly affected by either conflict measure. Conflict
intensity and Maoist abductions during school age both
increased the probability of early female marriage, but
exposure to conflict during marriageable age does not appear
to have affected women's long-term marriage probability.