Contribution of Context-Specific Community Security Innovations Towards Women's Empowerment In Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya

Abstract

Refugee women face heightened vulnerabilities to gender-based violence, exclusion from leadership and lack of access to security mechanisms, globally. The overall research objective was to explore the contribution of context-specific community security innovations towards women's empowerment in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya. Specific research objectives included: to examine the nature of context-specific community security innovations towards women's empowerment; to assess the extent to which context-specific community security approaches contribute to socio-economic empowerment of women; and to identify the challenges and opportunities emerging from the implementation context-specific community security innovations that promote women's empowerment in Kakuma refugee women. The study was grounded on Empowerment and Feminist Security theories. The study adopted a descriptive research design and targeted 127,670 women in Kakuma refugee camp from which 383 respondents were sampled using Krejcie and Morgan formula. Multistage, simple random, and purposive sampling techniques were used. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires for refugee women and semi structured interviews for community leaders, humanitarian staff and security actors. Secondary data was collected from UNHCR Microdata Library and governmental and national statistics. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 27.0. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percent, mean, standard deviation) presented data summaries while inferential statistics (Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient, Independent Samples ttest, and Logistic Regression) used to test study hypotheses at 95% confidence level. Qualitative data was coded thematically and presented in narrative form and verbatim quotations. The results showed that there was a positive relationship between the nature of context-specific community security innovations towards women’s empowerment where empowerment levels varied significantly depending on the nature of community security approaches (t = 2.119, p = 0.035). Similarly, context-specific community security approaches significantly contributed to socioeconomic empowerment of women (F=217.336, p < 0.05) with the results indicating that approximately 69.7% (R² =0.697) of the variance in women’s socio-economic empowerment could be explained by these community security variables. Finally, there were significant challenges and opportunities emerging from the implementation of context-specific community security innovations that promote women's empowerment (χ² = 46.403, p < 0.05). The study concluded that the delivery of context-specific community security innovations is a predictor of women’s empowerment in refugee camps. Thus, for protection of women in Kakuma Refugee Camp and for their empowerment, policymakers and humanitarian actors should develop a gender-responsive community security system which enables women involvement and removes cultural and structural barriers while securing ongoing financial support through collaborative partnerships with numerous stakeholders.