valuating The Impact Of Economic Empowerment And Psychosocial's Intimate Partner Violence In Nairobi's Informal Settlements: Control-Case Study Of Kariobangi-Korogochio

Abstract

This study seeks to assess the impact of financial inclusion and psycho social support on intimate partner violence (IPV). It aims to measure the effect of economic empower- ment and psycho-social support on IPV amongst women living in informal settlements in Nairobi. This can be achieved by comparing exposure to IPV across socio-demographic characteristics to identify potential confounding factors; determining factors contribut- ing to IPV amongst women who received the economic intervention; and determining individual and household economic empowerment variables associated with lower risk of IPV among women. The study employs a case-control design to investigate the ef- fect of economic empowerment on IPV. Prospective cohorts of 168 of above 18 year-old women, and victims of IPV were recruited into the study and assigned to control and intervention arms by simple random sampling technique. Quantitative data is collected by use of questionnaire and qualitative data by focus group discussions interviews. SPSS IBM 20, Microsoft Excel and R statistical analysis package are used to analyze the data; descriptive analysis used to summarize the data while binary logistic regression is tted to the data with two or more independent variables to determine the binary dependent outcome variable and estimate the odd ratios. Chi-square test at 5% level of signi cance is then used to determine if economic empowerment and psycho-social support reduce IPV. The study finds that economic empowerment of women coupled with psycho-social support significantly reduces incidences of physical assault on women hence it is a significant contributor to IPV among women living in informal settlements of Nairobi. The study recommends that besides economic empowerment and psycho-social support, all the significantlt determinants of IPV womens education levels, IPV related legislation, affirmative action in the job market and involvement in community development be addressed in entirety in order to eradicate IPV.