WaPo: “From Kenya to India and the Philippines, more frequent and intense weather events have led to escalating threats to women and girls” – For These Women and many other women around the world, the threat of violence may become more prevalent as climate change causes more frequent and severe weather extremes. … ONE study abroad 2021 on extreme weather events in Kenya by researchers at St. Catherine of Minnesota has found that economic stresses from floods and droughts or extreme heat have exacerbated violence against women in their homes. The study, using national and satellite health survey data, found a 60 percent increase in domestic violence in areas with extreme weather. That analysis and 40 others were published this year as part of global rating in The Lancet, found an increase in gender-based violence during or after extreme weather events. …
“Heatwaves, floods, climate-driven disasters increase sexual harassment, mental and physical abuse, murder of women, and reduced economic and educational opportunities as well,” said McGovern. such as increasing the risk of human trafficking due to forced migration”. front, including psychological and emotional violence and attacks against minorities. … ‘Violence peaks in floods’ … Scientists emphasize that extreme weather events do not cause domestic or gender-based violence but, on the contrary, exacerbate existing pressures have or make it easier for perpetrators to commit such acts of violence.
Flashback: Identity politics invade the climate change debate
Via: Administrators – climate store
By Geoffrey Ondieki, Disha Shetty and Aie Balagtas See
UMOJA, Kenya – Pilot Lenaigwanai covered his mouth as he spoke. She’s trying to hide her broken tooth, a bitter reminder of all she had to endure before finding refuge at a shelter for abuse survivors in northern Kenya.
The mother-of-three came here in July after being forced to leave her home by escalating violence. Her husband was abusive even before Drought is ravaging Kenya’s arid north, the worst in decades. When 68 of the family’s livestock – their only means of survival – died, the torture became unbearable.
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For these and many other women around the world, the threat of violence could become more prevalent as climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent and intense.
Scientists have long warned that climate change disproportionately impacts the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people as well as negotiators from wealthy nations at the Climate Change Conference. Climate of the United Nations in Egypt. committed to doing more to help poorer countries grappled with its devastating effects.
Until recently, relatively little attention was paid to its disproportionate impact on women and girls. But this year the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identify path between climate change and violence, citing growing evidence that extreme weather events are driving domestic violence, with global implications for public health and gender equality.
One study abroad 2021 on extreme weather events in Kenya by researchers at St. Catherine of Minnesota has found that economic stresses from floods and droughts or extreme heat have exacerbated violence against women in their homes. The study, using national and satellite health survey data, found a 60 percent increase in domestic violence in areas with extreme weather.
That analysis and 40 others were published this year as part of global rating in The Lancet, found an increase in gender-based violence during or after extreme weather events.
Terry McGovern, head of the department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, called the scientific evidence for the link “awesome.”
“Heatwaves, floods, climate-driven disasters increase sexual harassment, mental and physical abuse, murder of women, and reduced economic and educational opportunities as well,” said McGovern. such as increasing the risk of human trafficking due to forced migration”. front, including psychological and emotional violence and attacks against minorities.
Some academics, activists and humanitarian workers say the link between violence against women and extreme weather events needs further study. Unlike the hard science of climate change, they say, the complex causes of violence cannot be easily captured in numbers.
“Climate discourse is all about numbers, but evidence of violence and changes in power dynamics cannot be captured by numbers,” said Nitya Rao, a professor of gender and development at the University. that way, and so it is not given equal importance.” of East Anglia in the United Kingdom “It is very difficult to make a linear connection.”
In Umoja, there’s no doubt that drought is fueling violence – its rising numbers are proof enough. Jane Meriwas, who has a non-profit organization Samburu Women’s Faith helping women who have left abused homes to support themselves, says the number of women in Umoja has doubled to 51 in the last year.
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‘Violence culminates in floods’
In eastern India, more frequent heavy rains and devastating floods are the cause of the violence. Poverty is exacerbated by sudden economic stress and social inequality that often leads women to be abused by their husbands or other family members because they have nowhere else to go and cannot turn to the authorities. help.
A mother of five who asked for her middle name Devi to protect her identity says she knows nothing about climate change. She only knows that whenever floods reach her village in Bihar state, her husband returns home angry and violent.
With her husband working away from home year-round as a farmer, each season can be a challenge. But the monsoon season, Devi says, is by far the hardest. That’s when the rivers of her low-lying village downstream from melting Himalayan glaciers rose to burst, flooding vast swathes of land and making farming impossible. . With no prospect of work until the flood receded, her husband returned home and took out his frustrations on the family.
“The violence culminated in the floods. Things got worse at that point – the hunger, the stress. We have snakes in the house,” said Devi, 40.
“Anger poured down on me. There was a lot of stress during that time and I couldn’t sleep because of the stress,” she said, wiping away tears as one of her young sons leaned closer.
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Lessons from a storm
The scientists stress that extreme weather events do not cause domestic or gender-based violence, but instead exacerbate existing pressures or make it easier for perpetrators to do so. that violence.
According to studies in Bangladesh and parts of India, mass displacement after disasters may put women at greater risk.
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“When there is a natural disaster, disaster or conflict, it can make it difficult for families. The situation at evacuation centers is a contributing factor,” Lopez said. “It excites them. It added to their frustration. When someone is frustrated, they can reach a certain point and that can trigger [violence].”
Aira Nase, 37, has lived her life on the run from violence. Her mother was beaten by her partner and as a young girl, Nase vowed never to be like her mother. She takes pride in raising three children alone, taking on a job in the capital Manila to provide for them.
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There is no official data to show how extreme weather disasters affect levels of violence against women and girls in the Philippines. One learn, based on in-depth interviews with 42 people including Typhoon Haiyan survivors, aid workers and government officials who found reports of domestic violence, sexual violence, and disorderly rotation has increased since then. One private survey of over 800 households in the affected area conducted by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) showed an increase in both child marriage and domestic violence.
Humanitarian organizations working in the Dinagat Islands, which were hit hard by Typhoon Rai, have sought to disrupt this pattern. They launched a poster campaign highlighting where women can seek help if they are experiencing domestic violence, along with a phone number to call.
For the Samburu women of Umoja, escaping the dual pressures of violence and drought has become key to their survival.
Rose Lairolkek sat in the small shade that remained of the cluster of traditional mud-roofed huts that made up her refuge. She recounted how her husband returned home angrily after discovering all his livestock had died and attacked her, and that she still bears the scar on her right shoulder more than two years later.
“It almost cost me my life.”
Disha Shetty reports from Paik Tola village in Bihar state, India; Aie Balagtas See reports from Saint Bernard, South Leyte Province, Philippines.
The Washington Post is publishing this article in collaboration with More complete projecta nonprofit newsroom dedicated tocovering women’s issues around the world.
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