Physical Violence and Women's Leadership Resilience in Rural Kenya: Evidence from Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya

This study sought to examine the influence of physical violence on women's leadership resilience in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya. Guided by Feminist Theory and Resilience Theory, the study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional research design and a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected from 380 community women using structured questionnaires, while qualitative data were obtained through interviews with three elected women leaders. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis with the help IBM SPSS Version 28, whereas qualitative data were analysed thematically using NVivo 11. Descriptive findings indicated moderate agreement that physical violence discourages women from pursuing leadership positions (overall mean = 3.21). Correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant negative relationship between physical violence and women's leadership resilience (r = −0.598, p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis further established that physical violence had a significant negative influence on women's leadership resilience (β= −0.321, p < 0.001), with the regression model explaining 61.3% of the variation in leadership resilience (R2 = 0.613). Qualitative findings corroborated the quantitative results by revealing that fear of repeated violence, psychological trauma, intimidation, and social stigma discouraged women from seeking and sustaining leadership positions. However, social support networks, legal awareness, mentorship, and community advocacy emerged as important resilience-enhancing mechanisms. The study concludes that physical violence substantially undermines women's leadership resilience by reducing confidence, persistence, and participation in leadership. It recommends strengthening the enforcement of gender-based violence legislation, expanding survivor-centred psychosocial services, promoting community sensitisation programmes that challenge harmful gender norms, and integrating leadership development initiatives into GBV prevention and response programmes. Keywords: Gender-based violence, Physical violence, Women's leadership, Leadership, resilience, Rural women.