Violence against Women in Contexts of Criminal Violence

• In Event: Collective Action in Settings of Crime and Conflict

Abstract

Across the developing world, criminal violence by non-state armed groups have coincided with alarming rates of violence against women (VAW). I develop a theoretical framework to explain how criminal violence makes women more vulnerable to gendered violence and its consequences for women’s participation in their community and in politics. I argue that criminal violence increases women’s vulnerability to gendered violence in and outside the home, which undermines women’s likelihood of freely engaging in community and political activities. Women who have been victims of gendered violence in the home and/or the streets of their neighborhood are more likely to depend on the approval of an intimate partner or family member to participate in public affairs, particularly when female victims live in contexts of high criminal violence. In short, high levels of criminal violence increase the probability of gendered crimes, thereby reinforcing gendered power relations within the household, which undermines women’s autonomy to engage in collective action and mobilize politically. I test my hypotheses in the context of gang violence in El Salvador, relying on qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data correspond to in-depth interviews I carried out with providers of VAW services, including social workers and police officers, in the fall of 2018. The quantitative analyses use data from a nationally representative survey of VAW. I geocode the survey data to explore how proximity to sub-municipal areas of high criminal violence affects women’s experiences with gendered violence and its effect on women’s autonomy to engage in community and political activities.

Author

• Abby B. Cordova, University of Kentucky