Community risk and protective factors

Individuals within communities are affected by their community’s economic, political and social structures and by their positions within these structures.

In general, individuals and families have better access to support and protection when located within communities with strong social networks and access to resources, as compared to when they are isolated. However, sometimes social norms can be a community-level risk factor.

Social norms, which are a community-level factor of vulnerability, will affect people’s attitudes and behaviours towards different issues. For instance, there may be a distrust of medical professionals and a preference for traditional healers. Or a community may not accept available treatments for mental illness because of belief systems that identify particular causes of psychological distress and disorders. Sometimes, these community-level factors differ within subcommunities of migrants or between a migrant’s community of origin and current community.

Some community-level factors may affect groups within the community differently, making some groups more vulnerable and others less. For example, social networks that provide support to some groups but exclude others work to protect some and increase risk for others. Some risk and protective factors can apply to all members in a community, making the community as a whole more or less vulnerable.

Community programming to address vulnerability should be undertaken:

  • When there is indication that community-level factors are contributing to the vulnerability of segments of communities, or entire communities;
  • When there are indications that community-level protective factors could be mobilized to help them avoid, cope with or recover from violence, exploitation or abuse.
To Go Further
  • IOM, Community factors assessment toolkit. This community profiling form can be used to identify community-level risk and protective factors, and to design appropriate responses. Completing this form would help to assess how these factors contribute to or mitigate the vulnerability of the individuals, households and families, and groups within the community to violence, exploitation and abuse, in a migration context. This form is meant for use by local and national governments, protection actors and development actors, for the purposes of developing programming to mitigate risk factors and mobilize protective factors.
Community-level responses
Policy Approaches
 Community-level responses

Involve the affected community itself, local government and other stakeholders such as the private sector and development partners in medium- to long-term approaches addressing community risk factors:

  • Develop approaches to change attitudes and beliefs so that community members view all people – regardless of age, sex, race, ability, or any other personal characteristic – as full and equal participants in the cultural, social, economic and political life of the community;
  • Encourage full and equal participation of boys and girls in education;
  • Develop public information campaigns to inform communities on safe migration processes.

Involve the affected community itself, local government and other stakeholders such as the private sector and development partners in medium- to long-term approaches addressing community risk factors:

  • Develop approaches to change attitudes and beliefs so that community members view all people – regardless of age, sex, race, ability, or any other personal characteristic – as full and equal participants in the cultural, social, economic and political life of the community;
  • Encourage full and equal participation of boys and girls in education;
  • Develop public information campaigns to inform communities on safe migration processes.
To Go Further

IOM, IOM Handbook on Protection and Assistance for Migrants Vulnerable to Violence, Exploitation, and Abuse, 2019.

Key messages
  • Individuals and their families are situated within a broader physical and social community context. Some community factors may affect groups within the community differently, making some groups more vulnerable and others less.
  • All communities will have a combination of risk and protective factors.
  • Community-level interventions should involve the affected community itself, local government and other stakeholders, such as the private sector and development partners
  • Community-level programming tends to require medium- to longer-term approaches, as addressing community risk factors requires changes to broader social, economic, environmental, and cultural factors.
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