Reflect and discuss: Risk factors and situational triggers in Mercy’s story

[Elizabeth Washika]

The factors and triggers are similar though right now in my community we have more girls being educated and more women being empowered – financial stability , talking about violence and seeking care and support.

[Regina Kacwamu]

I live in an urban setting and although social norms exist, they are not dominant as the city is a mix of different cultures. Mercy would have more opportunities to work as it is increasingly acceptable for women in the city to fend for their families in the informal sector. Through this she could be able to support her children go to school. There are also opportunities to be part of civil society organizations who can support children to access education and women to access economic empowerment programs. She might face the risk of violence emanating from this form of empowerment as the man would see him as a threat to his power.

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 3 days ago by Regina Kacwamu.

[RISPER KIBUNJA]

The most salient risk factors, protective factors, and situational triggers may vary in different settings, and there may be additional factors and triggers in certain settings. How do you think the factors and triggers would differ if Mercy lived in your community?

My community has embraced gender equality and women’s right to socialization, this has acted as a protective factor for the women to engage in help groups and social support systems.
My community also believes that every in equal education opportunities for all children hence the girls have a chance of being enlightened and empowered to pursue their desires and careers so as to be independent.
In my community there are policies that the society has set against violating women that any perpetrator of GBV has to be punished by the policy guideline.

[Yvonne Muto]

The triggers and factors are similar, though in my community they seem to be evolving with more communities moving to being more open to ensuring gender equality. However there still remains a proportion of the community, both men and women that still want to hold on to gender inequitable relations as they fear to lose privileges that come with inequalities. As such these act as gate keepers of patriarchy and other oppressive systems, thereby perpetuating gender inequalities. These gate keepers are unfortunately laced in all levels of the ecological model, either they are the family, or they are the law enforcement agents or their hand is seen in the lack of political will at societal level to change the status quo

[ISAAC ADEYEMO]

The additional factors and triggers factors in Mercy community is not as much differents from my community, almost the same, so Mercy will be faced with intimate partner violence in her community, let me submit here that, all these factors are universally almost the same with little difference of cultural belief. And globally each continent with different culture, while talking about money, substance abuse, patriarchal belief, gender inequalities, lack of employment, sex refusal, women disobedient, lack of communication, men drinking attitudes, economic pressure and norms that the man is the head of the household and many others are serious factors that are the same everywhere.

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