This research aims to explore how forced displacement due to political conflict may contribute to intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. The process of displacement may exacerbate the risks of IPV against women by affecting women's social networks of support, men's ability to fulfill local expectations of masculinity and manhood in intimate partnerships, and women's economic resources relative to their intimate partner. Displaced communities are often characterized by extreme poverty, weak local infrastructures, and weak social networks. As is characteristic of many such populations, displaced populations in Colombia tend to be poor and marginalized. Many of these populations are resettled in and around large urban areas, with 70% originally from rural agricultural settings. Resettling into a large urban area provides limited opportunities for stable employment. These difficult living conditions may exacerbate IPV. Qualitative in-depth interviews will be conducted with Colombian women in a displaced community to understand their views and experiences of how social and contextual factors associated with displacement affect their intimate partnerships and experiences of IPV. Three main research questions guide the study: 1) How do stresses associated with displacement contribute to women's risk of experiencing IPV? 2) How does the experience of displacement affect women's networks of social support, and thereby influence women's risk of experiencing IPV? 3) How does the experience of displacement alter gendered roles and expectations in ways that influence the risk of IPV? The study has significant intellectual merit for several reasons. IPV is known to be a global problem, yet theories about its causes have grown largely out of research in stable Western contexts. This study will explore how the experience of displacement in a non-Western context shapes how women's social networks, resources, and constructs of masculinity affect women's risks of experiencing IPV. Information on how the above factors affect IPV in such settings has broader implications for the design of policies and prevention programs for displaced populations in the U.S. and abroad. It may be possible to intervene at the community level to alter the effect of women's risk of IPV.
