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Women, Gender and Disaster: Global Issues and Initiatives THE book is divided into four parts covering gender relations in disaster, challenges and responses in times of disaster, specific initiatives by women’s groups to reduce the risk, and the theoretical and operational concerns about gender equity in disaster risk reduction.
Slightly contrary to the gist of the book, P. Mishra argues that situation in a disaster is different which victimise both women and men unlike the everyday crisis which certainly affects women more than men. Hence he advocates engaging men as agents of change rather than barriers to change. Anderson gives a systematic account of the recommendations at an international workshop on “Gender Equality and Disaster Risk Reduction” organised at University of Hawaii in August 2004, which subsequently resulted importance of gender in disaster risk reduction in the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) in Japan in January 2005 and Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva in June 2007. Manjari Mehta draws attention towards the need for building capacities of communities by training and empowerment, particularly in hilly areas, wherein delivering timely and effective relief is a challenge. Bradshaw and Linneker provide an analysis of post-hurricane Mitch reconstruction efforts in Nicaragua in which they focus on the role of women in reconstruction projects. Samia Galal offers a generalised view how women role can be increased in the Arab World in men dominated areas such as management of natural resources, hazards and disasters. A disaster often results in increased gender inequalities, incidence of domestic violence, family separation, lack of availability of childcare facilities and shelter. Houghton, Peek and Fothergill, Masai, Kuzunishi and Kondo examine such issues and point out at some of the policy gaps that need to be addressed. Simone Reinsch argues that community development as well as empowerment of women is necessary to mitigate the stress experienced by women in times such as Bovine encephalitis which affected the central nervous system of the cattle, resulted in exports cancellation and lowering of price of beef. Likewise, Sullivan and Amaratunga, citing the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) example in Canada (2003), points out how health workers were stigmatised as possible vectors of transmission, resulting in psychosocial stress. The third section on women’s organised events covers several case studies of women’s organisation across different countries and highlights their initiatives in tackling post-disaster scenarios, which in turn points out that further enhancement in women’s capacity through training can have a cascading effect on the rescue and rehabilitation operations post-disaster. The last section advocates the involvement of women at all stages. Rohr, Hemmati and Lambrou in their papers highlight the adverse effects of a gender-blind approach and offer recommendations and strategies for change. Enarson has identified 57 steps for mainstreaming gender into priorities of action as per HFA. Likewise, Chakrabarti and Walia suggest a toolkit which mainstreams gender in all aspects of emergency management. They suggest desegregation of activities such as early warning, evacuation, severe acute respiratory (SAR) operations, medical aid, shelter, water and sanitation, food and clothing, health, ex-gratia payments, mental health, gender-based violence, relief management, education, damage assessment, livelihood, and recovery planning but without a unified code.
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Ariyabandu reviews some of the key factors like gender identities, perceptions, attitudes and status that are reflected in understanding gender relations at individual, family, community and society levels. The impact differs in terms of survival, death, injury, trauma and recovery after a disaster among men and women. Despite equal capabilities, women are often ignored in all policy decisions and formal arrangements after the occurrence of a disaster leading to the wastage of valuable human resources. Helena Valdes also emphasises the need for linking gender in disaster reduction policies.