Women of Bangladesh during disaster

Bangladesh stands on:

Everybody has been realized unquestionably that the climate change affected human being including all other living beings of one world. Among the victim countries, Bangladesh is a country in South Asia who at present situated under the most threat...ened category’s land in the history of natural disaster. According to the source of UNDP Vulnerability Index, as the highest mortality rate in the world, Bangladesh has lost 5,16,239 men, women and children between 1970-2005, during the total 171 disaster incidents. Though more than 5 million people of the country are living in the highly vulnerable areas due to cyclone and storm surges but after Sidr who has hit more inland and therefore the number of victims are certainly much higher now than previous status. Roughly, 55% of the coastal population lives within 100 KM of then total 710 KM long coastal belt of the country. The majority of those people living in this areas are low income agricultural workers and 70% of them are landless and asset poor. The country has faced 48 major cyclones between 1584-2007. In November 1970, about 300000-500000 people died, 400000 houses and 3500 schools were damaged. During a storm in May 1991, about 140000 people died and damage and displacement caused an estimated loss of US $2.4 billion. Sea-level rise will lead to a potential loss of 15,668 KM land which is expected to affect 11% of the population or 5.5 million people. If the sea level rise goes up by one meter, the implications will include a 20.7% land loss, affecting 14.8 million people. The national experts in this connection have opined that the sea level will rise by at least one meter by 2050 and with the possibilities of rising up to 1.5 meters. A one meter rise will affect 13% of the agriculture land and 17% of the remaining of the country as Bangladesh will be among the first countries to be affected by climate change. About half of the total population in the country is made up of women (48.9 percent in 2004, according to the World Bank gender profile), 80% of whom are living in rural areas. Though climate change affects everyone regardless of race, caste, ethnicity, sex and level of income, its impacts are more heavily felt the poorest and the most disadvantaged community people and climate change magnifies existing inequalities of man-woman too. Climate change is increasing the chronic instability of family set-up and the relation in between family members. Though the people of the poor and hard core poor communities are the vulnerable in particular, those concentrated in high risk areas but a study finding on 1991’s cyclone and flood disaster very significant in disaster related deaths in the country. Women among 20-44, the death rate were 71 per 1000 and men were 15 per 1000. They tend to have more limited adaptive capacities and are more dependent on climate sensitive resources. Climate change and women’s lives: In the country, the prevailing socio-cultural norms and care giving responsibilities prevent freedom to women from migrating to look for shelter and work when a disaster hits. Apart from that, during the disaster time, even the warning is issued, many women die due to waiting for their relatives and family members to return home and accompany them to a safe place. The way of self sacrifice of women even hampers their own rescue during any type of disaster. On the other hand, deaths, diseases and injuries occur from waterborne diseases, snake bites, drowning, slipping, large trees and structures falling on women, lack of medical facilities, malnutrition, lack of uncontaminated drinking water and lack of proper sanitation facilities. Women and adolescent girls suffer as sanitation systems are destroyed. Many women used to refrain from using the toilet during the day and consequently suffer from urinary tract infections. Particularly pregnant women, lactating mothers and differently disabled women suffered the most, as they found it difficult to move before and after disaster occurred. Among the women headed households generally amplifies women’s responsibilities and vulnerabilities during the natural disaster. After a disaster hits there are often inadequate facilities available for women to cope with their household tasks or to find shelter. Disaster relief efforts pay insufficient attention to women’s reproductive and sexual health, and as a result, women’s health suffers disproportionately. The disadvantaged socio-cultural condition and practical hindrances of women means greater difficulty in coping with disaster. Women in the country are becoming victims of various types of violence, and physical, sexual and emotional violence against women is highest and most regular. During disaster period, men often are left without employment and due to the reasons, domestic violence of women by men increasing happened for women not being able to manage resources properly, not serving food on time, not being able to procure relief materials etc. Many women refrain from going to shelters during a disaster time or when a warning signal is announced in fear that they would have to share a room with strange men. Pregnant women and nursing mothers tend to be reluctant to share space with or nurse in front of strangers. Under this pattern of staying in the shelters, women are becoming victim of mental abuse and physical torture and sexually too. Women are often facing physical insecurity and loss of dignity while collecting relief materials during and after a disaster. Most of the cases, women have to walk long distances through water, their wet clothes clinging to their bodies, to collect relief. And sexual harassment is often happened while they stand in long queues with male strangers. In the rural area, women used to engage with the rearing cows, goats, chickens, ducks etc for income generation by themselves. In this connection, most of the women generally receive micro credit from the NGOs and other sources before. Disaster usually damages all these assets of women. The money payers do not consider the women’s assets lost and or suffering due to disaster. The women have to pay back the received loan by installment to the money givers on regular basis at any cost. And they become tortured in many ways if women (receivers) failed to pay back installment on the scheduled date. In the disaster prone areas in the country, the vulnerable men-women both usually used their own indigenous science and arts to predict disaster and the nature of disaster earlier and sometimes it becoming of little help but due to global change, the traditional early warning tools of them are not working now effectively. During and or after disaster, when a household faces a food crisis because of earning male members become unemployed, women are mainly responsible for adjusting household food needs and mostly by changing type of food in take or by consuming less quantity and quality food value. This burden of shortage of family food consumption falls on women members comparatively less than less quantity food in take. Climate change and gender vulnerability: Climate change is not gender neutral and gender is an important determinant in climate change mitigation and adaptation. As climate change tends to magnify existing inequalities, with gender inequality being one of the most pervasive, it has major impacts particularly on women. Women are likely to experience worsening inequalities of different magnitudes as a result of climate change impacts through their socially constructed roles, rights and responsibilities and because they are often poorer and living with men dependency. Due to climate change, women face specific risks and vulnerabilities that affect women’s livelihood because they depends on natural resources and the environment for all their activities and the basic needs of their family members. Climate change not only affects women and their health and well-being directly, but it also impacts negatively on their work burdens, opportunities and capacities through changes in their livelihoods. In the country, due to climate change, women are generally more vulnerable than men and gender related perceptions are though changing slowly in some areas at community level. Women at least in the official documents are now involved in different disaster committee at local level that initiated by the government and NGOs. But the opportunity of effective contribution at those levels is less significant. The cultural views of men to women not yet started to change at all. Women’s involvement in activities outside the home, such as participation in meetings, contesting for election and leading of community mobilization started but lack of freedom of women to participate in those areas yet strongly existed. Misappropriation of religious about and against women’s free participation is prohibited in most cases and as result women still face challenges in influencing processes as existed now. The opportunity for participation in and access to local political power spheres are critical for women, the social power structures does not consult with women in decision making at any community level during and after a disaster. Gender specific climate change vulnerability not only affects women and their health specifically and well being directly but it also impacts negatively on their work burdens, opportunities and capacities through changes in their livelihoods. Apart from changes in their livelihoods that result from climate change, other important factors are lack of access to adequate early warning information, education, training and facilities to cope with the disasters as happen at present. The implications of climate change on women and men are quite different from the views of disaster-gender field. Women often face greater hurdles that men in a disaster. The early information does not reach to women as fast as to men. Women has the key role in protecting, managing and recovering their household and assets, are responsible to take care of elderly-children-disable members of her family, and above all face privacy issues including lack of safe sanitation. The women are often subjected to greater domestic abuse and violence during and after a disaster unfortunately.