This learning agenda aims to outline the existing evidence on consumer protection risks for women, assess potential solutions, and identify priority gaps in the literature. We identify many gaps and renew the call for action to conduct more research on how consumer protection risks affect women and how solutions can be tailored to their specific circumstances. IPA will use this learning agenda to inform the work carried out by our Consumer Protection Research Initiative (CPRI), and we hope that other research and policy organizations will find value in this document as they define their own priorities.

This document begins with a summary of findings, covering the evidence – or lack thereof – on the prevalence and severity of key consumer protection challenges and the effectiveness of solutions the aim to address these challenges. After a brief description of the methodology used for this review, the remainder of the document covers our findings in more depth, organized into five key topics, each divided into subtopics on the state of the evidence, followed by a discussion of existing and potential solutions.