Sofia Amaral

I am an Economist at the World Bank in the South Asia Region Gender Innovation Lab.

Previously I was an Economist (Assistant Professor equivalent) at the ifo Institute and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany, leading the Leibniz Junior Research Group on The Economics of Violence Against Women. I am a CESifo Research Affiliate, and an affiliate of the Center for Crime, Justice and Policing at the University of Birmingham in the UK. I am also affiliated with the World Bank's Center for Research on Women and Jobs and the Pakistan Data and Evidence Lab. At the World Bank, I am part of the Social Policy Department and the Data Talent Board.

My research interests include violence against women and children, gender, development, and economics of crime. The context of my research has been India, UK, El Salvador, Mozambique, and more recently Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

News:

• January 2026: The paper "Deterrence or Backlash? Arrests and the Dynamics of Domestic Violence is now 2nd round R&R at the Journal of Political Economy.

• January 2026: The paper "Experimental Evidence on Subsidized Transportation for Girls in Remote Contexts" will be presented at the Research Workshop on School-Related Violence Prevention and Response, CGD.

• November 2025: The paper "Sexual Harassment in Public Spheres and Police Patrols: Experimental Evidence from Urban India " was published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

• November 2025: The paper "Debiasing Law Enforcement: Effects of an Expressive Arts Intervention in India" was presented at the World Bank – KDI School – 6th Development Impact Conference.