Strength in Displacement: Protective Factors and Everyday Resilience among Women and Children Affected by Violence in Zamfara, Nigeria

Abstract

This study looks at the protective variables and daily resilience techniques used by women and children who have been displaced by violence in Zamfara, Nigeria. Thousands of families have experienced forced migration, loss of livelihood, and societal disintegration as a result of ongoing armed violence. Nonetheless, social, cultural, and religious frameworks give displaced communities exceptional adaptive abilities. The study included 48 in-depth interviews (32 women and 16 children) and six focus groups with mothers, teachers, and community leaders, drawing on qualitative fieldwork in four IDP camps, including Maradun, Anka, Shinkafi, and Tsafe. These camps are home to some 2,850 children and 3,200 women, whom have been displaced for more than three years. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to choose participants. The results show that teachers and faith-based volunteers establish safe spaces for learning and psychosocial healing, women set up networks of shared childcare and food-sharing. These group activities demonstrate that resilience is a socially ingrained process that is maintained via moral solidarity, collaboration, and spirituality rather than individual characteristic. In order to promote rehabilitation, dignity, and long-term well-being among Zamfara's conflict-affected inhabitants, the study emphasizes the significance of bolstering local agency, cultural networks, and communal assets.