By Ochaka Leonard

Poverty is a social phenomenon that has affected society negatively for a long time. It is also a complex societal issue because it is characterized by numerous factors such as inadequate opportunity to improve life, low levels of health and education, poor sanitation and poor security.

Its adverse effects have greatly threatened different aspects of human life. Sexual and gender-based violence is one of the major social vices that is greatly attributed to poverty in modern-day society.

This, therefore, presents poverty as one of the factors which have been threatening the existence of a society that is free from gender-based violence.

According to the World Bank, at least one in every three women has experienced sexual and gender-based violence in their lifetime.

Further analysis of this data from the World Bank presents poverty as the root cause of SGBV because of the following reasons: poverty increases the vulnerability of women and girls to sexual exploitation, causes intimate partner violence, interrupts the opportunity for empowerment through education, leads to early marriages which exposes young girls to the risk of experiencing gender-based violence, makes women and girls more reliant on men to support them.

Also, due to poverty, women and girls may be forced to persevere in violent relationships due to a lack of resources. Furthermore, women and girls living in poverty often face discrimination due to gender biases and unequal power relations.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Increasing women’s access to productive resources, services, economic opportunities, decent jobs, and institutions can contribute to reducing the risks of Gender Violence.

This implies empowering women to overcome poverty through the provision of resources can boost their knowledge and skills in reducing the vulnerability of women and girls to incidences of sexual and gender-based violence. Given the above, it is evident that poverty is a major cause of SGBV and working towards eliminating it can be a greater milestone in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence.

Leonard Ochaka is a Youth Advocate at NAYA Kenya