Display

This article reviews the role of women in the context of disaster relief and control. With a number of anecdotal stories from different parts of the world, the article highlights the following points:

• disaster-reduction policies and measures need to enable societies to be resilient to natural hazards, while ensuring that development efforts decrease the vulnerability to these hazards
• gender relations structure is part of the social and cultural context that shapes a community’s ability to anticipate, prepare for, survive, cope with, and recover from, disasters
• several studies show that increased violence against women is often a secondary effect of post disaster stress all over the world
• the pro-active role of women after a disaster can improve their standing in society
• gender equality in disaster reduction policies and measures require promoting women to have an increasing role in leadership, management and decision-making, as well as recognising women’s positions in their community and the larger society
• functions associated with disaster reduction need to be viewed not as an expense, but as an investment in a society’s future, and consideration of the needs and roles of women is crucial in this context.

• Full text of document
• Publisher details
• Send to a friend