Coping With Gender-Based Violence Across the Migration Journey: Strategies of Urban Refugee Women in Nairobi, Kenya

This study examines the coping strategies used by refugee women who have survived gender-based violence (GBV) across multiple stages of migration. Drawing on interviews with 50 urban refugee women in Nairobi, Kenya, the study explores how coping processes shift or remain consistent throughout the migration trajectory using the migration process framework. Although GBV is widespread among forcibly displaced women globally, limited research has investigated how survivors appraise and manage the stress of these experiences over time and within changing displacement contexts. Guided by Lazarus and Folkman's transactional theory of stress and coping, the analysis identifies a wide range of strategies. Emotion-focused approaches include caring for children, acceptance, crying, religiosity, silence, avoidance, and self-care. Problem-focused strategies encompass social and community support; reliance on marital or partner relationships; access to medical and mental health services; participation in skills training; support from host communities; and efforts to adapt economically and culturally. Data were collected through quota and snowball sampling and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings show that coping is a dynamic, context-dependent process shaped by women's agency alongside the social and structural resources available at each displacement phase. Survivors continuously recalibrated their coping approaches in response to evolving risks, opportunities, and support systems. The study underscores the need for culturally grounded, phase-specific interventions that strengthen emotional resilience while expanding practical support for refugee women affected by GBV. Such interventions should address both immediate psychosocial needs and the broader structural conditions that shape women's capacity to cope throughout their displacement journeys.