Factors That Contribute to Everyday Violence among Women Pursuing Livelihoods in Mathare Slums, Kenya

Abstract

Life in most slums is riddled with insecurity, which plays a big role in determining the nature of livelihood engagements women in the area engage in. The insecurity leads to many incidences of violence, the majority of which go unreported and are normalized as part and parcel of the slum life. Residents in these slums must earn their livelihood. The majority opt to adopt relevant survival tactics to deal with the violence in their endeavor to earn their livelihoods. The assaults, evident through a myriad of 'everyday violence' incidences, get normalized. The study sought to establish the factors that contribute to everyday violence among women pursuing livelihoods in Mathare slums. The study was guided by the social exclusion theory, which explains how, because of everyday violence, women experience exclusion from participating in socio-economic activities within the communities. Purposive sampling was used to identify three villages out of the thirteen in the Mathare Slums for study. Data was collected from 381 women through questionnaires and focus group discussions. This was supplemented with key informant interviews with target key informants: police officers, administrative chiefs, non-governmental organization (NGO) workers, and microfinance organization staff. The collected data was both qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative data gathered narratives and experiences of participants, while quantitative data depicted how widespread insecurity was felt by women who pursue livelihoods in these slum spaces. Findings from the study indicate that women pursuing livelihoods in Mathare slums have normalized violence as they engage in their daily activities. Given that they have very little time to engage in livelihood opportunities after spending the bulk of it in domestic work and childcare, the women accommodate several incidences of violence in order to earn their living. The study recommends that the national government, with the support of NGOs, should develop community programmes to help women in childcare have adequate time for meaningful earning of livelihood outside the home. This would reduce their need to normalize violence in pursuit of livelihoods.