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.