Routes is pleased to announce that the 2024 Routes Conference Travel Fund has been awarded to Dr Jane Ndungu.
Jane is a Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology, University of Exeter. Her overarching research focus is on prevention of violence against women and girls (VAWG). Specifically, Jane specialises in working with marginalised groups to co-design VAWG prevention interventions. She is interested in piecing together the triumphs and pitfalls of VAWG prevention intervention co-development processes, to enable us to understand how to best employ co-development. If we understand what works, and doesnāt work, in the processes of VAWG prevention intervention co-development, we have a greater chance of creating more beneficial interventions that are closely reflective of the beneficiariesā lived realities/contexts; and ultimately increased potential of achieving VAWG prevention interventions that work.
Janeās current project involves working with a group of young, forced migrant women from Durban, South Africa to co-develop an intervention focused on VAWG prevention and poor mental health mitigation.
Previous work includes investigating experiences of Xenophobia, intimate partner violence and poor mental health amongst forced migrant women in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa; VAWG prevention intervention co-development processes with adolescents; and exploring trauma experience and symptomology across different contexts (such as urban vs rural dwelling) in Kenya.
Jane works closely with the Gender and Health Research Unit at the South African Medical Research Council.
Jane will be using the travel fund to attend the SVRI Forum 2024, in Cape Town, South Africa. The conference abstract for her presentation can be reviewed below.
Complex interwoven drivers of intimate partner violence experience amongst forced migrant Somali women in South Africa
Background: Violence against women and girls remains a pervasive scourge globally. Forced migrants are especially at an increased risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), driven by a complex set of overlapping adversities that they encounter in their home countries, during migration and in the host countries. Yet, there remains dearth of evidence on IPV experience amongst the Somali forced migrant community in South Africa.
Aim: The aim of our study was to explore how gender inequalities, livelihoods, xenophobia, and trauma shape intimate relationships, including conflict and IPV experience amongst forced migrant Somali women.
Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 13 forced migrant Somali women (20-49) in Eastern Cape province, South Africa. Thematic network analysis, guided by a pre-defined socio-ecological framework, was used to map out drivers of IPV amongst these women.
Results: We found that poor mental health drove IPV experience in this community. Specifically, women reported conflict in homes to be instigated by stress caused by household food insecurity and partnersā joblessness. Experiences of trauma in the home countries and during migration also created vulnerability to IPV experience. Childhood and forced marriages were common, and key drivers of IPV experience. Families-in-law, who were an integral part of the households and key decision makers in these households were reported to create conflict and going against their decisions triggered IPV occurrence in the homes. Gender inequitable attitudes maintained IPV in this community. Specifically, acceptability of IPV and gendered social norms in the community drove IPV experience. Women reported financial insecurity, language barrier and broken family networks as the main reasons for staying in violent relationships. Protective factors included social cohesion, being educated and having source(s) of income. Specifically, women who were educated, had a source of income, and had strong family networks were less likely to stay in violent relationships.
Recommendations: Our findings highlight the need for multifaceted intervention in this community; focused on economic empowerment, gender transformation and conflict management. Provision of mental health care, education and employment opportunities will have potential to mitigate IPV in this community. Further research on drivers of IPV perpetration is recommended.