Why Gender Inequality is an Issue in the Context of Climate Change?

Women’s historic disadvantages – their restricted access to resources and information and their limited power in decision-making – make them most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. – Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)

The impacts of climate change are not evenly distributed – the poorest countries and people will suffer earliest and most. – (UK Treasury: 2006)

Although not openly debated as an issue, gender inequality exists in all societies. Societal traditions define roles of men and women giving them different levels of freedom and access to social and financial capitals. By and large women are positioned to play supportive and reproductive roles and their activities are largely centered around home, neighborhood, and local community. In contrast, men occupy the larger public domain.

In agrarian economies, however, women take up additional responsibilities in agriculture and related activities that are crucial and in most cases the only source of survival for the families and communities. Situation is similar in coastal areas where survival of people depends on fishing related activities and women are active participants. Therefore, it is clear that they are capable of shouldering any responsibility. But it is also a fact that their contributions are less visible and attract less public recognition than what men do.

Women in poor or isolated societies play crucial role in their families’ subsistence; for example, they are largely responsible for water supply and firewood collection, apart from cooking. This is a critical area where climate change will have the maximum impact. Further, since they often do not earn wages or control finances, women are normally excluded from decision making – not even about things such as children’s education. It is also expected that girls will help their mothers in household tasks and care for younger siblings, which means they are more likely to be dropped from schools than their brothers.

When women find employment it is largely in the informal sector which is high susceptible to external disturbances including climate change. So, not only do that earn lower wages than men, they also have little job security.

Besides cooking responsibilities, women and girls are generally expected to care for the sick, particularly in times of disaster and environmental stress. This puts pressure on their educational and earning activities. Moreover, the additional expenditure on healthcare of the sick pushes the family further into poverty. It also limits their participating in community-level decision-making processes on climate change or disaster risk reduction.

It is now widely recognized that the disturbances such as rising sea level and floods, particularly in warmer areas, will lead to an increase in water borne diseases. Other likely health related consequences of climate change include higher prevalence of malnutrition due to food shortages, increases in heat-related mortality and morbidity, and increased respiratory disease where air pollution worsens. Children under-five are the main victims of sanitation-related illnesses and along with the elderly they are most susceptible to heat stress.

Whenever there is food shortage girls and women usually get less preference than boys and men which puts them at comparatively bigger risk. However, more research is needed to ascertain the extent and nature of this discrimination so that better targeted response can be devised for health impact of climate change on children and adolescent.

The elderly are at the highest risk and are the most vulnerable from climate change related health impacts like heat stress and malnutrition. Elderly women are particularly vulnerable in developing countries where resources are scant and social safety nets limited or non-existent. Where burdened with family and caring responsibilities, they are further stressed and fatigued by climatic extremes. They are also least likely to be able to afford healthcare expenditure. For older women living in rural areas, reaching healthcare facilities located at far off distances is another big obstacle.

Further, women and girls are also primarily responsible for providing water and firewood for the family; it involves daily traveling far distances and carrying the load back home. This is physically demanding and makes them prone to stress-related illnesses and exhaustion. Adverse climatic situations make these tasks harsher. Women and girls also face barriers to accessing healthcare services when they can’t afford it. Cultural restrictions on their mobility also prohibit them from traveling to seek healthcare.

For example, in Nepal, women suffer from bladder problems associated with carrying large amounts of firewood during pregnancies. Miscarriages in Uttarachal, India, is 30% higher than the national average and is associated with the very heavy weights women in that rural zone have to carry to collect water and firewood.

When the climatic disasters pass away, hardships of the survivors continue. Stress is heightened after disasters, particularly where families are displaced and have to live in emergency or transitional housing. Overcrowding, lack of privacy and the collapse of regular routines and livelihood patterns often contribute to panic, anger, frustration and violence – it makes children (especially girls) and women most vulnerable at all types of abuses.

Looking at the specific roles and responsibilities of women, following steps will help reduce their hardships:

• Improved healthcare facilities particularly in rural areas will significantly ease the hardships of women coming from the health impact of climate change. Mobile healthcare units can be quite convenient for elderly and pregnant women who can’t travel long distances.
• Steps are required to enhance food security in disaster prone areas. Probably a simple solution is to set up food grain warehouses at easily accessible but safe locations which can be used at the time of crises.
• Provision for safe drinking water and cooking fuel in rural areas will considerably reduce physical burden on women and girls and help improve their health status.
• Considerable knowledge exists regarding appropriate support and interventions to alleviate women’s care burden in the context of HIV. These insights can be used as guidelines for creating climate change policy and programs.

Differential impact of climate change on men and women must be included in all international climate change negotiations. It is, indeed, funny that the group - poor women - most vulnerable to climatic hardships does not have a voice in discussions. There is another good reason why women should have a greater say is that they see things differently from men. It makes their opinions most valuable.