Young Women’s Perspectives on Alcohol Environments in Urban Informal Settlements in Kampala, Uganda: An Exploratory Photovoice Analysis

Young women living in urban informal settlements experience intersecting structural and environmental conditions that shape health and well-being. Alcohol environments (the physical, social, and commercial contexts in which alcohol is sold, marketed and consumed) represent an important but understudied social and commercial determinant of health. Young women in these settings face intersecting vulnerabilities, including poverty, unemployment, and gender inequality, that increase their exposure to alcohol-related harm. Although alcohol use and alcohol-related harms are increasingly understood as shaped by social and commercial determinants of health, little is known about how young women experience alcohol environments in low-resource settings. This exploratory, site-specific secondary, qualitative analysis draws on data from a 2022 Photovoice project conducted over several weeks with 15 young women (ages 18–24) living in urban poverty in Kampala. Participants used photography and group discussions to explore how alcohol shapes their lives. Our inductive thematic analysis included all five participants from the Makindye site, where alcohol-related photographs and narratives emerged prominently during the Photovoice discussions. Six key themes were identified from 42 narrative excerpts and two photographs, highlighting alcohol’s dual role as both a source of livelihood and a source of harm. Participants described pervasive exposure to aggressive marketing, unregulated drinking venues, and the normalization of alcohol use, often linked to interpersonal violence, emotional distress, and disruption of household dynamics. Alcohol environments also constrained women’s mobility and safety, limiting their participation in public life. These findings suggest that alcohol environments may shape young women’s exposure to violence, economic precarity, and psychological distress in this setting. They also point to the potential value of gender-responsive policies, stronger regulation, and community-based prevention strategies to address alcohol-related harm and health inequities in low-resource urban settings.