During and after these disasters, women and children suffer the most.
Natural disasters and the ensuing relocation
and reconstruction efforts present unique challenges to women in developing
countries. Successful relief and rebuilding strategies must anticipate these
obstacles in order to minimize danger to women’s safety and leverage their
potential to contribute to the redevelopment of their communities and
countries.
In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, threats to women’s physical safety
increase exponentially.
- Violence against women – The trauma of a
natural disaster exposes the strengths and weaknesses in relationships,
and a dramatic rise in violence against women consistently follows the
advent of natural disasters. In Nicaragua 27% of female survivors and
21% of male survivors of Hurricane Mitch reported increased violence
within the family. Similar trends were reported in the Philippines after
the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. Even in developed countries, violence
against women increases in the wake of a natural disaster. Following the
Loma Prieta earthquake in California, reported sexual assault rose by
300%.
- Inability to meet
basic needs –
Women are the majority of the world’s poor, and even in good times, many
rely upon assistance to supplement their below-subsistence incomes.
Disaster disrupts the flow of regular assistance threatening women’s
ability to care for themselves and their children. In Gujurat, India for
example, many women depended on the provision of shakti packets to help
meet their basic daily nutritional needs. Distribution stopped
temporarily after the earthquake cutting women off from one of their
sources of subsistence. Similarly, women in several Gujarati villages
reported that the earthquake abruptly terminated their healthcare.
The gendered nature of disaster continues into the reconstruction phase as
women and families seek out new ways to make ends meet.
- Women heading
households
– Natural disasters leave many women in charge of both household duties
and supporting their families. In addition to widows who become wholly
responsible for their children and elderly family members, wives head
their households when their husbands migrate to find employment.
- Caring for more with
less
– As the primary caretakers in most developing countries, women
experience an expansion of their household responsibilities after a
disaster. Displaced family members seek refuge with those who have
already resettled, and women face the challenge of providing for their
growing families while access to resources dwindles. In particular,
women struggle to provide water. Disasters tend to damage water systems,
and women, who are chiefly responsible for transporting water, tend to
spend more time gathering water.
- Job loss and poverty - Women’s livelihoods
tend to be very resource dependent. Therefore, when disaster destroys
natural resources, women loose their source of income. For example, in
Gujarat, India, many women found employment in the agricultural sector.
When the earthquake hit in 2001, underground hydrological systems
shifted resulting in contamination of the soil. Agriculture became less
profitable, driving down the demand for workers with the types of skills
that women had developed.
- No social safety nets – While women often
find ways to cope with poverty prior to disasters, their solutions
cannot withstand intensified poverty and reintegration into new
communities. For example, women in Gujarat, India began savings groups
that would provide small loans to members. However, after the
earthquake, women reported that the availability of loans decreased.
- The cycle of poverty - Disasters intensify
women’s poverty and increase their workload making it harder for them to
access the types of resources and training they need to transition into
sustainable livelihoods.
- Homelessness and
property rights - The right to own property helps women, and
especially widows and girl orphans, endure natural disasters and
reestablish lives for themselves and their families. If women do not
have the right to own property, they can loose their homes and fields.
In Pakistan, a researcher documents a case in which a male family
invoked Sharia Law so that he could inherit his deceased relative’s
land. The widow and her two daughters found themselves homeless.
- Trafficking and the
sale of girl children – Faced with the possibility of starvation,
impoverished families have made choices that trade girls’ futures for
immediate survival. A Pakistani newspaper reported that in Baluchistan,
Pakistan, a man sold his 15-year old daughter for a few hundred rupees
to feed the rest of his family.
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