An Essex academic has won a prestigious grant for her work which could influence international policy-making around violence against women.

Professor Sonia Bhalotra from the Department of Economics at Essex University is one of 185 scientists to get the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant.

She will receive a share of the €450 million fund and is the only female economist among this year’s award winners.

Violence against women restricts a woman’s freedom, causes physical and psychological harm and is a major contributing factor to gender inequality around the world.

Professor Bhalotra’s research can now run for five years until 2025.

She said: “I feel delighted and privileged. I feel that it is not only I but also this topic that has been recognised; it is only quite recently that economists have started working in this area.

“There is a growing consensus to prioritise violence against women in law-making across the world. However, the evidence base is thin.

“One reason for this is that women are reluctant to report violence, and no country gathers systematic time series data on domestic violence or sexual harassment in the workplace and public places.

“I intend to acquire, generate and analyse currently unavailable or under-used data in order to produce a rich tapestry of scientific evidence to guide policy and further research.”