‘To minimise that risk, there are some costs we incur’: Examining the impact of gender-based violence on the urban poor

ABSTRACT

Urban environments marked by violence create fear that can have real impacts on the urban poor, particularly women and girls. Any efforts to tackle poverty and promote health must address the impacts to their access to livelihoods and education, healthcare, markets, and social support that underlie wellbeing. This study aimed to elucidate specific impacts that violence and fear have on the very poor in rapidly growing cities and the coping strategies employed. This multi-country qualitative study was conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Participants in all three cities employed similar tactics to avoid violence. People adjusted how, when, and where they travel and how they interact with people who threaten them. These coping strategies led participants to spend more money on goods and to restrict access to livelihood opportunities, education, healthcare, and social activities. Women are impacted more than men in all spheres and city specific differences are highlighted. Residents of urban slums, particularly women, in these three cities cope with urban violence in many ways, suffering consequences in a range of categories – leading to significant impacts to their own health and well-being and their families.

KEYWORDS:

• Bangladesh
• Ethiopia
• Haiti
• gender-based violence
• urban

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Chris Pain from Concern Worldwide for all of the feedback along with logistical and funding support as well as the staff at the Concern country offices in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Haiti for their invaluable support and insights without whom this research would not have been possible.

Data availability

The datasets used and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In Dhaka, focus group discussions took place in four different locations throughout Dhaka – one for each group. In Addis Ababa, all interviews took place in the same location. In Port-au-Prince, focus group discussions took place in four different locations, with two discussion groups being held in the same place on separate days. Key informant interviews in Dhaka and Port-au-Prince took place in locations that were most convenient for the interviewees. The selection of locations were guided by Concern Worldwide as they are best able to identify a variety of sub-populations living within each city’s informal communities. For example, in Dhaka, one focus group discussion was conducted with women who are pavement dwellers, meaning that they do not have formal home structures and sleep on the pavement with their possessions and families.

2 The only mixed gender focus group discussion took place in Addis Ababa with young people. This was based on input from the Concern Worldwide country team on gender dynamics and concerns over the validity of data collected from the older male and female participants.

3 The Concern Worldwide office in Port-au-Prince negotiates access to each of the communities in which it works in the city. This study fell under the purview of the agreements with various state and community actors, thus additional approval was not necessary.

4 Throughout the Results section, themes are presented with references to the sites in which they were found. If a site is not explicitly named, it is correct to assume that the theme was absent from the data collected from the excluded study site.

5 Previous research shows a variety of negative health outcomes associated with early marriage, including early pregnancy and domestic abuse (Nour, 2012; Speizer & Pearson, 2010; Godha, Hotchkiss, & Gage, 2013).

6 It is worth noting, however, that participants also said that all women – married or single – were vulnerable and exposed to violence, so the effectiveness of this protection strategy remains unclear.

7 Some participants described a community group that worked as a liaison between the specific government-defined neighbourhood and their respective police department office. The group operated within the government structure, though the participants who were part of the group suggested there was a level of autonomy of the group that allowed them to guide the work of the group rather than it being directed by the police.

8 These committees were only mentioned in one other focus group discussion, with young, single men and women, so it is unclear how these committees are perceived by the community overall.

9 These groups were only discussed in the focus group discussion with young, single men, so it is unclear how visible, active, or effective they are in addressing the specific security concerns of women.

10 The cross-cutting issue of climate change, which is present in the Chant and McIlwaine (2016) model, did not come up specifically in this study.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Concern Worldwide.