The current study analyzed strategies for coping with gender-based violence described in the diary accounts of 20 women residents of Kibera, Kenya, the largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa. Three distinct strategies are reported: endurance and faith, escape, and limited partnership. Previous qualitative studies of this population report acceptance of gender-based violence, based on lack of education and patriarchal social norms. The current study indicates that coping strategies may sometimes be agential choices made by women negotiating a complex web of structural oppression. Implications for practice are discussed.
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