Environmental Stressors and Intimate Partner Violence in Urban Tanzania: A Thematic and Visual Analysis from Dar es Salaam

TL;DR

This study shows how environmental stressors in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, worsen intimate partner violence, especially for women in poor urban areas.

Contribution

The study introduces an ecological systems perspective linking environmental stressors and social determinants to IPV in urban informal settlements.

Findings

Environmental stressors like resource scarcity and climate change intensify intimate partner violence in urban informal settlements.

Women in these areas face heightened vulnerabilities due to poverty, poor services, and gender discrimination.

The research highlights the need for gender-sensitive urban planning to address environmental and social risks.

Abstract

Background: This study explores the interplay between environmental stressors and intimate partner violence (IPV) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods: Drawing on participants’ interviews, visual ethnography, thematic analysis, and a review of secondary sources, the research examines how resource scarcity, displacement, and climate change intersect with social determinants of health to intensify IPV. Results: Using an ecological systems perspective, the study demonstrates how structural vulnerabilities and environmental degradation disproportionately affect residents of informal urban settlements, particularly women, who face intersecting vulnerabilities due to poverty, inadequate services, and gender-based discrimination. Conclusions: The findings from this study underscore the need to integrate gender-sensitive urban planning and policy that address both environmental risks and existing social inequalities, thereby enhancing household and community resilience.

Figures