What Factors Contribute to Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Urban, Conflict-Affected Settings? Qualitative Findings from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

Rapid urbanization is a key driver of the unique set of health risks facing urban populations. One of the most critical health hazards facing urban women is intimate partner violence (IPV). In post-conflict urban areas, women may face an even greater risk of IPV. Yet, few studies have examined the IPV experiences of urbandwelling, conflict-affected women, including those who have been internally displaced. This study qualitatively examined the social and structural characteristics of the urban environment that contributed to the IPV experiences of women residing in post-conflict Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Ten focus groups were conducted with men and women, both internally displaced (IDPs) and non-displaced. Lack of support networks, changing gender roles, and tensions between traditional gender norms and those of the Bmodernĉ ity were reported as key contributors to IPV. Urban poverty and with it unemployment, food insecurity, and housing instability also played a role. Finally, IDPs faced heightened vulnerability to IPV as a result of displacement and discrimination. The relationship between economic strains and IPV are similar to other conflict-affected settings, but Abidjan's urban environment presented other unique characteristics contributing to IPV. Understanding these factors is crucial to designing appropriate services for women and for implementing IPV reduction interventions in urban areas. Strengthening formal and informal mechanisms for help-seeking, utilizing multi-modal interventions that address economic stress and challenge inequitable gender norms, as well as tailoring programs specifically for IDPs, are some considerations for IPV program planning focused on conflict-affected women in urban areas.

Pathways From Food Insecurity to Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among Peri-Urban Men in South Africa

“…The current findings echo the qualitative masculinities literature that suggests men's inability to meet the expectations of being a provider may result in their use of violence. 10 The other important pathway proposed in this study's conceptual framework and confirmed in the SEM was relationship quality. Quarreling has long been seen as a trigger for women's experience of IPV, 29 but only one study has found quarreling to be related to men's use of IPV.…”

“…9 In qualitative research in Cote d'Ivoire, the stress of food insecurity and urban poverty led to IPV perpetration among men, who felt unable to meet their gendered role of providing for the family. 10 No other research, to the authors' knowledge, has assessed the relationship between food insecurity and men's IPV perpetration.…”

A Scoping Review of the Health of Conflict-Induced Internally Displaced Women in Africa

“…In countries like northern Uganda, Ethiopia, and DRC, over two decades of conflict and gender-based violations have served to reinforce a culture of disregard, and thus impunity, for diverse forms of violence [24][25][26]. Prolonged displacement brings about community apathy, because social cohesion and trust are eroded by war [27]; additionally, domestic violence becomes normalized, families live in chaotic, overcrowded settlements without any form of privacy. In other words, private incidents of violence become known to neighbors and, being a frequent occurrence, the community becomes numb.…”

“…In northern Uganda, Stark et al [25] explored violence among 204 households and identified that about 50% of respondents had experienced intimate partner violence in their marriages. Cardoso et al's work expanded on the causes of marital rape, associating its prevalence with social and structural changes to the environment of the displaced [27]. The study, conducted in Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa, identifies that urban poverty-with its high male unemployment, food insecurity, financial stress, and cramped housing-played a role in women's experiences with intimate partner violence.…”

“…The study, conducted in Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa, identifies that urban poverty-with its high male unemployment, food insecurity, financial stress, and cramped housing-played a role in women's experiences with intimate partner violence. Women talked about their own stress and anxiety over financial constraints, as well as losing interest in being sexually intimate with their husbands [27]. A cross-sectional study, conducted in Kampala, Uganda, found that 53% of women reported experiencing violence in Kampala's urban settlement, with married participants having higher odds of intimate partner violence than single ones [29].…”