Violence among poor urban slum men: Experiences of men from Viwandani slums of Nairobi, Kenya

Rhoune Adhiambo Ochako, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)
Jean-Christophe Fotso, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

Gender based violence (GBV) has been feminized leading to the invisibility of the male victim; several studies have equated GBV to wife battering where the woman is the primary victim while the male is the primary perpetrator. New evidence suggests that spousal abuse is neutral, and that men and women are almost equally violent against each other. Despite this, there is less research focusing on violence against men, especially in the domestic sphere. More specifically, there is little interrogation of men’s experiences in the context of urban poverty, where men as well as women, face severe livelihood insecurity, unemployment and deprivation. Further, studies have failed to explore the experiences of these men in connection to the impact on their relationship with women and other household members. In this light, this paper seeks to explore the vulnerabilities experienced by men, especially those resulting in violence.