An Analysis of the Contribution of Covid-19 Control Measures on Gender-Based Violence Against Women on Mathare Constituency, Nairobi County

Abstract

This study sought to examine the correlation between the COVID-19 control measures and Gender-based violence (GBV) against women in Mathare Constituency, Nairobi County. The study focused on GBV against women because recent studies show that 6 out of 10 women are likely to experience GBV during a time of crisis. The purpose of the study was to explore how government actions during COVID-19 such as lockdowns, closing businesses, and enforcing curfews may have contributed to increased violence against women in the community. The specific objectives that guided this study included determining the effect of lockdown on gender-based violence against women in Mathare Constituency, Nairobi County, to establish the impact of closure of businesses (hotels, restaurants, bars, and markets) on gender-based violence against women in Mathare Constituency, Nairobi County and to investigate the effect of the imposition of curfew hours on gender-based violence against women in Mathare Constituency, Nairobi County. The study was underpinned by Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and supported by perspectives from Radical Feminist Theory, including both liberal and Marxist feminist viewpoints. The conceptual framework of this study focused on examining diagrammatically how specific COVID-19 control measures namely lockdowns, business closures, and curfew hours (independent variables) affected the prevalence of gender-based violence (dependent variable) against women within Mathare constituency, Nairobi County. Given the complexity of the topic, the study adopted a mixed-methods approach. It utilized a convergent parallel design to integrate both qualitative and quantitative data. The target population was 100,028 women residents of Mathare constituency, Nairobi County. The sample size was 99 respondents, determined by using Yamane’s formula. Closed-ended questionnaires and interviews guided by an interview guide were used in the collection of primary data. The collected data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28, and the results were presented in descriptive tables and inferential statistics to answer the research questions. From the correlation analysis, lockdown had a significant positive correlation with GVB against women, with a correlation coefficient of 0.660 and a P-value of 0.000 (< 0.05), indicating that the correlation was statistically significant. The closure of businesses also showed a significant positive correlation with GBV against women, with a correlation coefficient of 0.742 and a P-value of 0.000 (< 0.05), indicating that the correlation was statistically significant. Finally, Curfew hours had a significant positive correlation with GBV against women, with a correlation coefficient of 0.918 and a P-value of 0.000 (< 0.05), indicating that the correlation was statistically significant. Further, regression results established a positive notable relationship between lockdown and GBV against women (β 0.133, P 0.004). It was concluded that an increase in lockdown increased GBV against women. A positive but insignificant relationship was also established between the closure of businesses and GBV against women (β 0.048, P 0.068). From this, it was concluded that a one-unit change in business closure increased GBV against women by 0.048 units, but this relationship was not statistically significant. Finally, a positive significant causal relation was established between curfew hours and GBV against women (β 0.817, P 0.000). This means that a unit change in curfew hours subsequently increased GBV against women. The study concluded that COVID-19 control measures had a significant relationship with increase in GBV against women in Mathare constituency.