Skip to main content

Women and the Gender Bias of Disasters: When Vulnerabilities Converge

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Disaster Studies

Part of the book series: Disaster Studies and Management ((DSDM))

Abstract

The paper examines the specific plight of women following extreme hazardous events. It explores ways in which women experience a disproportionate amount of suffering post-disaster by looking to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti Earthquake as examples. In each instance, women encountered poor reproductive health outcomes in the form of inadequate care, limited access to resources as it related to their health, and increased rates of gender-based violence. Ultimately, this analysis serves to demonstrate how disasters are able to perpetuate pre-existing vulnerabilities and entrench pre-established systems of oppression. The paper concludes with a discussion on how these findings can inform more effective disaster policy and response in the future.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anastario, M., Shehab, N., & Lawry, L. (2009). Increased gender-based violence among women internally displaced in Mississippi 2 years post-Hurricane Katrina. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 3(01), 18–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ariyabandu, M. (2006). Gender issues in recovery from the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: The case of Sri Lanka. Earthquake Spectra, 22(S3), 759–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babalola, S. (2014). Factors associated with use of maternal health services in Haiti: A multilevel analysis. PanAmerican Journal of Public Health, 36(1), 1–9. Print.

    Google Scholar 

  • Behrman, J. A., & Weitzman, A. (2016). Effects of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake on women’s reproductive health. Studies in Family Planning, 47(1), 3–17. Web.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birkmann, J. (2006). Measuring vulnerability to promote disaster resilient societies: Conceptual frameworks and definitions (1st ed.). New York: United Nations University Press. Print.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloem, C. M., & Miller, A. C. (2013). Disasters and women’s health: reflections from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 28(02), 150–154. Web.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butterbaugh, L. (2005). Why did Hurricane Katrina hit women so hard? Off Our Backs: A Women’s Newsjournal, 35(9/10), 17–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callaghan, W. M., et al. (2007). Health concerns of women and infants in times of natural disasters: Lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 1(4), 307–311. Web.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gros, J.-G. (2011). Anatomy of a Haitian tragedy: When the fury of nature meets the debility of the state. Journal of Black Studies, 42(2), 131–157. Web.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horton, L. (2012). After the earthquake: Gender inequality and transformation in post-Disaster Haiti. Gender & Development, 20(2), 295–308. Web.

    Google Scholar 

  • Human Rights Watch. (2011). Nobody remembers us: Failure to protect women’s and girls’ right to health and security in post-Earthquake Haiti. New York City: N.p. Print.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, P., & Phillips, B. (2008). Battered women, catastrophe, and the context of safety after Hurricane Katrina. NWSA Journal, 20(3), 49–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, R., Miller, F., & Thomalla, F. (2008). Vulnerability in the context of post 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami recovery: Lessons for building more resilient coastal communities. Stockholm Environment Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee-Koo, K. (2012). Gender at the crossroad of conflict: Tsunami and peace in post-2005 Aceh. Feminist Review, 101(1), 59–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, R. (2005). How women were affected by the tsunami: A perspective from Oxfam. PLoS Medicine, 2(6), e178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumayer, E., & Plümper, T. (2007). The gendered nature of natural disasters: The impact of catastrophic events on the gender gap in life expectancy, 1981–2002. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 97(3), 551–566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, L. (2005). A feminist perspective on Hurricane Katrina. Off Our Backs: A Women’s Newsjournal, 35(9/10), 11–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuller, M. (2011). “They forgot about us!” Gender And Haiti’s IDP camps, interview and translation. Meridians, 11(1), 149. Web.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuller, M. (2015). “Pa Manyen Fanm Nan Konsa”: Intersectionality, structural violence, and vulnerability before and after Haiti’s Earthquake. Feminist Studies 41(1), 184. Web.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Population Fund. (2005). Gender and changes in tsunami-affected villages in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province. UNFPA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wisner, B., Blaikie, P., Cannon, T., & Davis, I. (2004). At risk: Natural hazards, peoples vulnerability and disasters, 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Women, Disasters and Hurricane Katrina. (2010). Fact sheet (pp. 1–4). Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jamie Weare .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Weare, J. (2020). Women and the Gender Bias of Disasters: When Vulnerabilities Converge. In: Andharia, J. (eds) Disaster Studies. Disaster Studies and Management. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9339-7_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9339-7_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-32-9338-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-32-9339-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics