Disasters Hindering Women's Life Expectancy in Developing Nations: An Aftermath Analysis

 “The aftermath of a disaster, reproductive health services are crucial for shelters and evacuation because expectant mothers and new mothers are particularly vulnerable. Typhoon Haiyan affected over 230,000 pregnant women. The UN Population Fund estimated that over 900 deliveries took place daily, with roughly 130 of those pregnancies likely to have life-threatening complications” - The Centre for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP)

Data Sources: Female Life Expectancy at Birth-World Bank Database, Natural Disaster- EM-DAT database 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its 6th Assessment Report (2015-23), which claims that 3.6 billion people reside in climate-vulnerable areas. The effects on health are most noticeable in low-income countries and small island developing states, where the frequency of deaths from extreme weather is fifteen times higher. In 2019, 396 disasters affected 95 million people, causing damages of $103 million and displacement of 25 million people (Women’s Resilience to Disasters Concept Note, 2021).

Source: After the cyclone, a mother holds his baby in her arms and looking the destruction of all her belongings in disaster (Dhaka Tribune)

Considering the circumstances, developing nations like India face numerous natural and man-made disasters due to their unique geo-climatic and socioeconomic conditions. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), India, reported that almost 58% of the landmass is prone to moderate to high-intensity earthquakes, 12% to floods and river erosion, and 68% to drought. Hilly areas are at risk from landslides and avalanches. The Centre for Science in Down to Earth (2023) reported 2,923 human fatalities, 80,000 house damages, and 2 million hectares of crop yield damages annually.

A study by Parida and Goel (2020) found that India had 371 natural disasters between 1971 and 2009, with floods being the most frequent, resulting in 1,511,000 fatalities and impacting 1.86 billion people. Down to Earth (2023) reports reveal that in India, 2,923 human fatalities were reported, approximately 80,000 houses were destroyed, and 2 million hectares of crop yield were damaged during this whole year.

Besides, women and girls often face challenges in escaping disasters, especially in developing nations, as they are often responsible for caring for homes and victims of sexual assault, physical abuse, and human trafficking (World Bank Group, 2018a). Some case studies show the Gender disparity in disaster-related deaths, women fatalities were 61% in Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis in 2008, 70% after the Banda Aceh, India, tsunami in 2004, and 91% after Cyclone Gorky in Bangladesh in 1991, and one more hidden aspect is there is often a delay in reporting sexual abuse during and after disasters because victims of sexual assault prioritize their recovery over-reporting. In addition, victims may not have access to medical facilities or domestic violence shelters. Inequality among genders, specific norms about gender, and societal exclusion all enhance a person's vulnerability to the effects of catastrophes (Wisner et al., 2012).

“The indirect impacts of disasters can also have wide-ranging cascading impacts on other aspects of structural or social inequality. For example, research shows that violence against women and girls increases in the aftermath of disasters. At the extreme end of the scale, this takes the form of intentional homicides” – GAR (2022)

According to an Oxfam International survey conducted in the Aceh Besar province of Indonesia, 72% of the fatalities were women. In comparison, male survivors of the tragedy outweighed female survivors by a ratio of nearly 3:1. Women accounted for 77% of all fatalities in four other communities. The worst-hit town, Kuala Cangkoy, had a 4:1 female-to-male fatality ratio, meaning that 80 percent of the victims were female. Women accounted for 72% of the fatalities caused by tsunamis in the island nation of Sri Lanka, as well as certain areas of India.

 

According UNISDR (2009) reported, women and gender minorities suffer more throughout and following a disaster the less economic, political, and cultural influence they had before the event. Women experience an enormously more significant death rate from disasters than males. Besides the death rates, in disaster aftermath, some components play essential roles that hinder women's inclusion in recovery stages, like Cultural norms, gender stereotypes, and lack of education.

Why do women suffer the most in developing nations or income-group nations? There are reasons like the dependency on agriculture of rural women, around 64 %, which results in further poor health, low standard of living, and lower access to social services. Land owing to rural women is less than 15 %, leading to financial instability, low family decision-making power, and lack of access to credit facilities. Around 30 % of rural women give birth to a child without proper medical facilities, which reduces the reproductive life of females and increases the chance for a higher mortality rate. Only 2 % of poor women complete upper secondary school, which results in low-quality jobs, fewer opportunities, and barriers to career growth. Around 3.7 billion rural women do not access network connectivity and lack technological improvement skills (UN Women, 2018).

In preventing significant disasters, either natural or human-made, we should first identify the existence of risks and hazards that are prevalent in the environment. Then, the most vulnerable groups, like women, the elderly, etc., should be identified for resilient capacity building at the local level. This research focuses on the improvement of women life expectancy to reduce the risks from disasters.

Two crucial issues for female survivors are the rebuilding of support networks and the lack of accessible psychologists. Since they are more dependent on domestic work and the unofficial sector, women are more impacted than men by displacement, loss of household resources, and insufficient support (Kar 2010).  Also, women are more susceptible to economic insecurity after natural or man-made disasters because of their traditional responsibilities. The breakdown of traditional family and community support structures is a problem that disproportionately affects women after disasters (Kimerling et al., 2009).

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasizes gender equality as a crucial objective for sustainable development and economic growth. However, women still face barriers to employment and decision-making positions worldwide, including the gender wage gap and disproportionate opportunities.

The UNDP's "EnGenDER project" in nine Caribbean nations promotes women's resilience and equitable development by incorporating human-rights-based methods and equal opportunities for men and women in environmental management, disaster risk reduction, and climate change resilience policies. Projects should be initiated at the micro level in developing nations like India to promote equal participation and disaster resilience among women.

 

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BY
Pinki Chahal
Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Economics, SBSS, MRRIS, Faridabad
Dr. Durairaj Kumarasamy
Associate Professor, Department of Economics, SBSS, MRRIS, Faridabad

To cite this article: Chahal, P., & Kumarasamy, D. (2025, January). Disasters Hindering Women's Life Expectancy in Developing Nations: An Aftermath Analysis. Eco-Bizz Department of Economics.

https://ecobizzblog.blogspot.com/2025/01/disasters-hindering-womens-life.html

Article Received on: 9-01-2025

Published on: 28-01-2025