Queen Essays

International Journal of

Environmental Research and Public Health

Review

Beyond Binary: (Re)Defining “Gender” for 21st

Century Disaster Risk Reduction Research, Policy,

and Practice

Ashleigh Rushton

1

, Lesley Gray

1,2,

* , Justin Canty

3

and Kevin Blanchard

4

1 Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University, Wellington 6140, New Zealand; [email protected]

2 Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice, University of Otago, Wellington 6242, New Zealand

3 School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, Australia; [email protected] 4 DRR Dynamics, London WC2 2JR, UK; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +64-(0)21-029-39729

Received: 26 August 2019; Accepted: 15 October 2019; Published: 18 October 2019 !"#!$%&'(! !"#$%&'

Abstract: The dominant discourse of gender focuses on the binary of woman/man, despite the known additional risks for diverse sexualities and gender minorities in disasters. Given the small but growing body of literature concerning gender minorities in disasters, this paper sets out to explore the place of sex and gender minorities in disasters and to examine whether a binary definition needs to be extended. A five-stage rapid review was undertaken following Arksey and O’Malley’s method. Peer-reviewed journal articles in English language were sought that included disaster and gender terms in the title, abstract, and/or body of the article published between January 2015 and March 2019. The search included MEDLINE and Scopus databases. Relevant information from the studies were charted in Microsoft Excel, and results were summarized using a descriptive analytical method. In total, 729 records were identified; 248 that did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded and 166 duplicates were removed. A total of 315 records were sourced and their full text was reviewed. Of those, only 12 journal articles included content relative to more than two genders. We also recognized that sex and gender terms were used interchangeably with no clear di↵erentiation between the two. We recommend that disaster scholars and practitioners adopt correct terminology and expand their definition of gender beyond the binary; utilize work on gender fluidity and diversity; and apply this to disaster research, policy, and practice.

Keywords: gender; gender minorities; disaster; rapid review; binary

1. Introduction

The dominant discourse of gender within disaster focuses on the binary of woman/man or female/male [sic]. There is limited research documenting gender minorities’ experiences and health implications in disasters; what is written predominately identifies the heightened marginalization and exclusion that gender minorities face pre- and post-disaster [1–3]. While we acknowledge progress in gender and disaster research and practice, there is a disparity in the understanding of the lived experiences and health implications for gender minority individuals and groups. Notably, there is a gap in understanding the importance of applying appropriate gender terminology in disaster research, policy, and practice. This paper addresses this gap by providing useful instruction to minimize exclusion and marginalization of sex and gender minorities (SGM) in disaster research and management plans. This paper provides a summary of the field of gender and disaster scholarship and research which looks at the experiences of gender minorities in disasters, along with the framing

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of gender relating to the Western context and legislative shift. Results of a rapid review are presented, followed by a discussion of the key issues pertaining to gender minorities and disaster risk reduction (DRR), with recommendations for action.

2. Background

Gender and disaster scholarship grew from the recognition that women faced discrimination, exclusion, and additional challenges before, during, and after disasters. It was argued that gender played a role in how and why people were unequally a↵ected [4–14]. Given that women’s mortality rates are higher [15] and domestic and sexual violence against women is increasing [4,7,16,17], there was failure to detect how gender constructs people’s experiences of disaster. An example being not all women had access to a cyclone warning in Bangladesh due to cultural restrictions; consequently, high numbers of women were injured or died during a cyclone in April 1991 [18]. It is the socio-cultural factors that contribute to women having limited access to resources, shelter, or information [19]. The predominant focus on women within gender and disaster scholarship is warranted and the research provided evidence that the social constructions of gender work to exclude and marginalize people. Given that there is specific gender and disaster research that highlights how gender influences people’s disaster experience and health outcomes, we would argue that minority genders outside of the binary must also be considered.

2.1. Defining Sex and Gender Minorities

For the purpose of this paper, we define gender as being the socially constructed processes and di↵erences, often aligned with being feminine, masculine, blended elements of both, or neither. Therefore, gender minority refers to a person whose gender identity does not exclusively align with masculine or feminine polarities. Sex is defined as the physical characteristics used to identify di↵erences between males and females; this does not mean that a person’s gender or physical sex characteristics necessarily align with their sex assigned at birth based on visible genitalia. Gender binary refers to the binary system whereby gender is assumed or considered as being a woman or man only. Therefore, gender non-binary is defined as genders outside of the woman and man binary.

2.2. Western Context of Gender, Sex, and Sexuality

The terms indicated in the acronym LGBTIQA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual) are derived from a Western context. It is evident in disaster responses as elsewhere that the terms are problematic in relation to conceptualizing both diverse sexualities and diverse experiences of both sex and gender in non-Western contexts alongside the existing critiques of the focus on these identity labels.

The Western concept of sex is commonly associated with physical or biological characteristics of bodies. It can be understood as equally socially constructed through both dominant discourses and biological theories, such as Laqueur [20] and Fausto-Sterling [21,22]. The social constructedness of sex categories and, specifically, the binary sex categories of male/female were illuminated by ongoing research into sex and sex characteristics. Discoveries made possible by genetics and inductive exploration of the diversity of human anatomy and experience equally disrupted the simple binary attributed to human sex di↵erentiation, with the proposal that sex may be more properly understood as a spectrum [23]. In this regard, sex characteristics may be better described as bimodal rather than binary. As Ainsworth [23] observed, “biologists may have been building a more nuanced view of sex, but society has yet to catch up.” In order to perceive and redress negative e↵ects of either omission or discrimination on the basis of sex characteristics, it is important to critically review not only the binaries of woman/man and female/male, but also of sex and gender.

In the Western context at least, gender is a concept based on the construction of systems of di↵erence [24]. The woman/man gender binary is based on the assumed existence of only two points on a gender “scale” treated as coextensive with an apparent binary quality of physiological sex. This is

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commonly linked to perceptions of nature, biology, and the body and is, thus, accepted as “truth” [25]. Second-wave feminist theory contributed to disrupting an assumed link between sex and gender through arguing for a distinction between them to disrupt the equation of physical characteristics with social roles [26,27], which in itself creates another problematic binary [28]. However, conflation of physical characteristics, identity, expression, and social roles and norms remains common and has impacts on people of diverse experience and cisgender people alike.

Disrupting these dominant assumptions from a Western cultural foundation is vital to acknowledging the existence, rights, and needs of multiple genders within and beyond Western society that do not fit within the woman/man gender binary [25,29]. As such, it has relevance to e↵orts toward decolonization, as well as moving beyond the binary. Lorber [29] argued that gender as a paradox was a meaningless rhetoric in a binary gendered system whereby social structures continue to support gender inequality. Johnston [25] contends that it is Western culture and societal expectations that encourage and uphold the binary of gender. It is also argued that a two-gender binary frame developed into a rigid and discriminatory tool to support male privilege and power [29–31]. By using the woman/man binary, gender inequalities are further enforced [29]. Habitual application of the two-gender, two-sex binary frame similarly undermines queer and feminist scholars and campaigners who challenge essentialist thinking of gender and how social constructs are used as methods to reinforce “appropriate” behaviors for women and men and multiple forms of oppression such as sexism, homophobia, and racism [32–34]. What needs to be considered in disaster management is that neither gender nor sex are fixed terms; rather, their meanings are open to interpretation and fluidity. In this discussion, we adopt the term sex and gender minorities (SGM) from the United States (US)-based National Institutes of Health (https://www.edi.nih.gov/people/sep/lgbti/about), which is recognized as an appropriate acronym. The Yogyakarta Principles (YP) and Yogyakarta Principles plus 10 (YP+10) prepared by the International Service for Human Rights [35] provide a more useful non-binary foundation for disaster response, research and literature. This allows identification of specific dimensions of sexuality, sex, and gender that are made relevant through discrimination, omission, or persecution in the context of disaster response, independent of specific identity terms. This includes the recognition of culturally specific and intersectional experiences. The dimensions are sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).

2.3. Legislative Shifts on Gender

Disasters can impact a person’s human rights. Set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, these rights include the right to housing, the right to access healthcare, and the right to liberty and security [36]; however, enforcing humans rights is di�cult. The inter-agency standing committee acts to coordinate humanitarian responses and sets out guiding principles to protect people’s human rights when a↵ected by disaster. However, there is no binding agreement that enforces the protection of people’s human rights in crisis [36]. The guidelines are there but the willingness to use them to protect the human rights of individuals is dependent on the country(ies) involved. Given that many countries globally still persecute people whose gender and sexuality are outside the gender and heteronormative binary, it is unlikely that SGM’s human rights are going to be guaranteed protection in times of disaster.

Nevertheless, within the context of disaster, when the law, legislation, and serving government of a country do not recognize genders outside of the binary, people who do not conform to heteronormativity and who are not cisgender are marginally positioned and, thus, excluded with increased discrimination and risk. These legislation changes and challenges provide a brief look into how progress was made for issues around SOGIESC globally but also into how far the progress has yet to go. Natural hazard events disrupt society as we know it, often exacerbating inequalities and prejudices; thus, laws that protect rights and criminalize discrimination are vital to support the health and needs of those individuals who are more likely to be excluded.

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There is slow progress within law to recognize genders outside of the binary. However, countries including Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada, Pakistan, Italy, Denmark, Australia, Germany, Malta, and some states in the United States of America provide a gender-neutral option on passports. Countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh provide a third gender option on their passports. Since 2015, Aotearoa New Zealand includes a “gender diverse” option when collecting statistical data, and Iceland provides a third gender option on o�cial documents. Cuba also made significant changes to its law which now not only forbids discrimination against SGM, but also replaces the words “woman and man” with “spouse” within their definition of marriage [37]. Despite some progress globally to recognize genders outside of the binary, “ . . . stepping outside the bounds of heteronormativity (and by extension, gender normativity) remains illegal in many parts of the world, e↵ectively hindering any integration of the needs of sexual and gender minorities into DRR policy and practice in a significant number of national and regional jurisdictions” [1] (p. 22).

Countries such as Iraq, Iran, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Paraguay, Brazil, Honduras, and El Salvador are just some of the countries that still criminalize SGMs [37]. Indeed, these countries with their cultural opposition to SGM communities were often the most vocal in terms of developing political barriers related to the inclusion of SGM groups during the Sendai Framework negotiations [38]. Worryingly, the United States of America government is presently and publicly working to undo progress made by previous governments through laws that help protect the rights of SGM people including the Department of Health and Human Services O�ce of Women’s Health pushing to legally define gender on a biological basis [37,39]. If successful, the health of SGMs will be compromised, which could leave gender minorities with significantly poorer service provisions post-disaster.

2.4. Minority Genders in Disaster Risk Reduction

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030) [40] emphasizes health and the importance of providing su�cient identification of vulnerability and disaster risk in all dimensions, as well as care and training to healthcare systems and professionals [40–42]. Given that gender minorities may require healthcare following a disaster, it is problematic that the World Health Organization identifies gender as socially constructed identities of women and men [43] despite the recognition of third, fourth, and fifth genders in some cultures and countries [44,45] and evidence that SGMs can face restricted access to appropriate healthcare [46,47].

The United Nations o�ce for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR; formally known as UNISDR) o↵ers “basic definitions on disaster risk reduction to promote a common understanding on the subject for use by the public, authorities, and practitioners” [48] (https://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/terminology). However, UNDRR does not include a definition of gender. Given that there is recognition that SGMs face heightened marginalization, increased discrimination, and abuse, it is disappointing that the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction [40] does not include guidelines to minimize discrimination against diverse sexualities and gender minority groups and/or suggestions how to improve or safeguard health in relation to SGM individuals. Implementing gender analysis and providing a framework to support gender considerations in DRR is dotted throughout the document; however, disappointingly, gender within the Sendai Framework is discussed only in relation to women.

The UNDRR online registration for the 2019 Global Platform to review progress by countries on the Sendai Framework provided only two options of gender (female and male), which attributes to gender incorrectly and excludes people whose gender identity is not within the gender binary. The registration pathway sat alongside an announcement in October 2018 regarding the mainstreaming of gender throughout the 2019 global platform discussions, promoting women’s participation at international meetings [49].

A rapid review was conducted to identify peer-reviewed research journal articles in the four years since commencement of the Sendai Framework [40] to identify those with a disaster focus including minority genders, going beyond the binary. The sections below set out the approach and provide results from a rapid review of journal articles (2015 to 2019). A discussion about the findings of the

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review and the proposal of an appropriate definition for gender to be adopted for the disaster-related field of research are provided.

3. Method

A rapid review was selected to synthesize how gender is referred to and what exists in published journal articles relating to SGMs in disaster literature using systematic review methods in the time available [50]. The rapid review was undertaken following the framework of Arksey and O’Malley [51], which sets out five stages which provides a transparent and comprehensive process allowing for reliability and replication of the search strategy. This approach follows the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) [52].

Stage 1—Identify initial research question: This review intended to assess the extent to which disaster literature that refers to gender is limited to or goes beyond a binary framework in journal articles published in English language between 2015 and early March 2019 and to quantify the terms utilized. The timeframe was chosen to align with the commencement of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction [40] and the resources and timeframe for writing this paper.

Stage 2—Identify relevant studies: A wide definition of key search terms was adopted to ensure good coverage of the literature and to account for peer-reviewed journal articles that mix gender and sex terms. Inclusion and exclusion criteria took account of available time and funding limitations. We did not include hazard terms such as drought, storm surge, storms, cyclone, or typhoon, as these terms brought up many thousands of results, many of which did not appear to be disaster-related; moreover, time would not allow for a detailed review of results in the thousands. The search strategy inclusion and exclusion criteria are outlined in Table 1.

Table 1. Search strategy inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Search Strategy

Male, men, men’s, man, man’s Female, women, women’s, woman, woman’s

Gender or gender with identit or nonconforming, non-conforming, divers, binary, nonbinary, other, unspecified, nonspecified, non-specified, androgyn, intermediate, minorit, spectrum, cisgender, transgender, trans-gender,

transsexual, trans-sexual, queer, lgbt, glbt, twospirit, two spirit, two-spirit, uranian, fa’afafine, faafafine, berdache, pangender, bigender, genderqueer, androgyne, intergender, intersex, third sex, fourth sex, ashtime, mashoga,

mangaiko, palao’ana, palaoana, fakaleiti, mahu wahine, mahu vahine, whakawahine, akava’ine, akavaine, waria, warias, baklâ, baklas, binabae, bayot, bantut, bading, femminiello, muxe, biza’ah, bizaah, travesties, xanith, khanith,

tritiya-prakrti, ubhatobyanjanaka, pandaka, quariwarmi Disaster, earthquake, avalanche, landslide, mudslide, land slide, mud slide, tsunami, tornado, mass casualty,

volcan, flood.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Included Included Excluded Year 2015 to March 2019 Pre-2015 and after March 2019

Language English language articles Non-English language articles Format Journal articles Book or book chapter Disaster Disaster focus No disaster focus

Gender terms Articles that did not mention gender or sex terms Age Articles focused on infants or children (age 10 and under)

Non-human Adults Animals and plants

Search terms within articles

Gender (binary/non-binary), female, male, woman/women, man/men, other gender/sex terms

Stage 3—Study selection: Medline and Scopus searches produced 728 results in total. After exclusions and duplicates were removed, this left 315 references to be sourced and reviewed.

Stage 4—Chart the data: A summary table was completed for each of the included articles, including year, authors, and what terms were used to refer to gender.

Stage 5—Collate, summarize, and report results: The results section below provides details on the fifth stage.

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The review approach involved two authors (A.R. and L.G.) with the assistance of a reference librarian (M.F.) to conduct the initial search. After duplicates were removed, an electronic library was created utilizing suitable referencing software. The two authors each searched for half of the articles, reading and assessing article content. Details were then entered into a shared Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The results were shared between A.R. and L.G., and queries relating to the articles were discussed. The reference librarian (M.F.) assisted with sourcing full text of articles that the two authors were unable to locate initially.

4. Results

The initial search identified 729 records; of these, 248 records did not meet the inclusion criteria and were excluded, and 166 duplicates were also removed. This left 315 records to be sourced and reviewed as full texts. Full texts were located, obtained, and reviewed. Once full texts were reviewed, a further 55 records were excluded. Two records were pre-2015, two were conference presentation abstracts, and one was a news summary. Four records were not related to disasters, and one specifically looked at volunteers in humanitarian settings. A small number of articles were about dental forensics and body identification methods (n = 5), health skill development around procedures (n = 8), and dietary intake (n = 1). Results relating to books or book chapters were excluded (n = 11). Those related to school, children, youth, and/or adolescents were excluded (n = 15), and we observed that none of these included content relating to more than two genders. A further five articles were excluded as they did not include any reference to gender or sex. This left 260 journal articles.

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Figure 1. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) flow diagram for rapid review article selection.

Table 2. Rapid review: papers referring to minority genders outside of the binary (n = 12).

Year Citation Beyond Binary

Summary

2018 Myers, A.; Sami, S.; Onyango, M.A.; Karki, H.; Anggraini, R.; Krause, S. Facilitators and barriers in implementing the Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP) for reproductive

health in Nepal post-earthquake. Confl. Health 2018, 12, 35. [54] LGBTI

2018 Gorman-Murray. A.; McKinnon, S.; Dominey-Howes, D.; Nash, C.J.; Bolton, R. Listening and

learning: Giving voice to trans experiences of disasters. Gend. Place Cult. 2018, 25, 166–187. [55]

Gender minorities Transgender

Baklâ Waria

Aravani

2018 Dominey-Howes, D.; Gorman-Murray, A.; McKinnon, S. On the disaster experiences of

sexual and gender (LGBTI) minorities: Insights to support inclusive disaster risk reduction policy and practice. Aust. J. Emerg. Manag. 2018, 3, 60–68. [53]

Gender minorities Non-binary

Sexual minorities LGBTI

2017 Wisner, B.; Berger, G.; Gaillard, J.C. We’ve seen the future, and it’s very diverse: Beyond gender and disaster in West Hollywood, California. Gend. Place Cult. 2017, 24, 27–36. [56]

Non-binary Cisgender,

Transgender Transsexual Gender fluid

2017 Ong, J.C. Queer cosmopolitanism in the disaster zone: ‘My Grindr became the United

Nations’. Int. Commun. Gaz. 2017, 79, 656–673. [57] LGBTQ

2017 McKinnon, S.; Gorman-Murray, A.; Dominey-Howes, D. Disasters, queer narratives, and the news: How are LGBTI disaster experiences reported by the mainstream and LGBTI media? J.

Homosex. 2017, 64, 122–144. [58]

Cisgender Transgender

Gender minorities

Figure 1. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) flow diagram for rapid review article selection.

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Two articles meeting inclusion criteria had content relating to gay men. Whilst not having specific content relating to more than two genders, these articles, along with one article that briefly noted transgender groups, did acknowledge non-gender-normative and heteronormative identities and included important considerations in relation to disaster risk reduction and the aftermath following disaster (see Supplementary File S1: Included papers). When reviewing the full-text articles for the purpose of this review, we determined that “LGB” was related to sexuality and not gender; however, we included papers that used the acronym LGBT, given the fluidity of “T” (i.e., transgender and/or transsexual individuals), which may identify as a gender beyond the binary [53]. During the review, we recognized that 200 out of the 260 articles used the terms sex and gender interchangeably with no clear distinction between the two terms. Figure 1 shows the record selection process.

Following our review of 260 peer-reviewed journal articles, we noted that only 12 went beyond the gender binary of woman/man. Two out of the 12 articles referred to the acronym LGBT(I/Q) and a further one article mentioned transgender groups. Four articles reviewed included the terms gender minorities and non-binary. Unsurprisingly, only five articles that we reviewed discussed specific genders beyond the binary such as Aravani, Fa’afafine, Baklâ, and Waria. Another observation is that eight of the 12 articles specifically focused on gender minorities and/or LGBTI groups. A further two articles specifically focused on gay individuals; however, as both papers included the acronym LGBTI/LGBTQ, they were included. The remaining two articles did not specifically aim to examine minority groups in DRR, yet they made reference to genders outside of the binary. Table 2 below provides a summary of these papers.

Table 2. Rapid review: papers referring to minority genders outside of the binary (n = 12).

Year Citation Beyond Binary Summary

2018

Myers, A.; Sami, S.; Onyango, M.A.; Karki, H.; Anggraini, R.; Krause, S. Facilitators and barriers in implementing the

Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP) for reproductive health in Nepal post-earthquake. Confl. Health 2018, 12, 35. [54]

LGBTI

2018 Gorman-Murray. A.; McKinnon, S.; Dominey-Howes, D.; Nash,

C.J.; Bolton, R. Listening and learning: Giving voice to trans experiences of disasters. Gend. Place Cult. 2018, 25, 166–187. [55]

Gender minorities Transgender

Baklâ Waria

Aravani

2018

Dominey-Howes, D.; Gorman-Murray, A.; McKinnon, S. On the disaster experiences of sexual and gender (LGBTI) minorities:

Insights to support inclusive disaster risk reduction policy and practice. Aust. J. Emerg. Manag. 2018, 3, 60–68. [53]

Gender minorities Non-binary

Sexual minorities LGBTI

2017 Wisner, B.; Berger, G.; Gaillard, J.C. We’ve seen the future, and

it’s very diverse: Beyond gender and disaster in West Hollywood, California. Gend. Place Cult. 2017, 24, 27–36. [56]

Non-binary Cisgender, Transgender

Transsexual Gender fluid

2017 Ong, J.C. Queer cosmopolitanism in the disaster zone: ‘My

Grindr became the United Nations’. Int. Commun. Gaz. 2017, 79, 656–673. [57]

LGBTQ

2017

McKinnon, S.; Gorman-Murray, A.; Dominey-Howes, D. Disasters, queer narratives, and the news: How are LGBTI

disaster experiences reported by the mainstream and LGBTI media? J. Homosex. 2017, 64, 122–144. [58]

Cisgender Transgender

Gender minorities

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Table 2. Cont.

Year Citation Beyond Binary Summary

2017 Gaillard, J.C.; Gorman-Murray, A.; Fordham, M. Sexual and

gender minorities in disaster. Gend. Place Cult. 2017, 24, 18–26. [1]

Gender and sexual minorities

Baklâ Aravani

2017

Gaillard, J.C.; Sanz, K.; Balgos, B.C.; Dalisay, S.N.; Gorman-Murray, A.; Smith, F.; Toelupe, V.A. Beyond men and

women: A critical perspective on gender and disaster. Disasters 2017, 41, 429–447. [59]

Aravani Fakaleiti

Mahu Whakawahine

Baklâ Waria

Fa’afafine

2017

McKinnon, S.; Gorman-Murray, A.; Dominey-Howes, D. Remembering an epidemic during a disaster: Memories of HIV/AIDS, gay male identities and the experience of recent

disasters in Australia and New Zealand. Gend. Place Cult. 2017, 24, 52–63. [60]

LGBT Gender minority groups

2017

Yamashita. A.; Gomez, C.; Dombroski, K. Segregation, exclusion and LGBT people in disaster impacted areas: Experiences from the Higashinihon Dai-Shinsai (Great East-Japan Disaster). Gend.

Place Cult. 2017, 24, 64–71. [61]

LGBT Transgender

Waria

2015

Işık, Ö.; Özer, N.; Sayın, N.; Mishal, A.; Gündoğdu, O.; Özçep, F. Are women in Turkey both risks and resources in disaster management? Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2015, 12,

5758–5774. [62]

Transgender groups

2015

McSherry, A.; Manalastas, E.J.; Gaillard, J.C.; Dalisay, S.N. From deviant to bakla, strong to stronger: Mainstreaming sexual and gender minorities into disaster risk reduction in the Philippines.

Forum Dev. Stud. 2015, 42, 27–40. [63]

Sex and gender minorities Baklâ

5. Discussion and Conclusions

The aim of this paper was to explore the place of gender in disaster scholarship and to examine the persistent use of a binary definition despite scientific and social shifts to recognize SGM experiences beyond this binary. The rapid review identified how gender was referred to within the academic literature on disaster. Our initial literature search of the experiences of gender minorities in disaster identified three things. Firstly, there is limited literature relating to gender minorities and disaster. Secondly, the papers that did discuss gender and sexual minorities discussed the health impacts on and discrimination against gender minorities in disaster events. Thirdly, we identified that gender and sex were used interchangeably with female, male, women, and men, and there was no clear distinction between the two. The scope of this paper was not able to ask or identify why this may be, but suggested reasons are discussed. We also make a recommendation for further work in this area.

Through the rapid review, we identified only 12 journal articles that considered minority genders outside of the binary in relation to disasters; this accounted for only 4.61% of the 260 included papers. It is fair to say that, of the 12 papers that considered more than two genders, eight papers set out to intentionally explore minority genders. The fact that the majority of papers reviewed adhere to the gender binary could be due to gender-normative assumptions, as empirical data more commonly only include woman/man or female/male. The majority of full-text articles reviewed referred to the binary woman/man. This may reflect the demographics of participants, or it might be a reflection of limited options provided to research participants. Additionally, there may be a lack of understanding from researchers as to possible genders outside of the binary. For example, one article looking at the use of social media in the Philippines to recruit participants in a post-disaster setting claimed the demographics of their study sample were similar to the country demographics in relation to gender, age distribution, and level of education. However, there was no mention of non-binary genders such as

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baklâ in this paper. Another suggestion as to why disaster research and policy tend to neglect gender minorities could be that scholars and practitioners are not aware of genders outside of the binary, or that they may wish to enforce the binary due to their own personal beliefs. We make these suggestions for further consideration.

We also cannot ignore that in some countries, gender minorities may be stigmatized and put at risk for publically identifying outside of the gender binary; thus, we must consider that some researchers may consciously avoid including gender minorities in their work in order to avoid drawing attention to those individuals and communities, thereby averting putting them in danger. In addition, sex and gender minorities may also work to avoid disclosure to minimize the risk of discrimination, violence, or persecution.

Unfortunately, due to the limitation of this paper, we cannot explore the reasons behind why there are few articles that include gender minorities in more detail, but it is clear that the following question lies here: How do we, as disaster scholars, ethically and appropriately include gender minorities in disaster research? This question, we hope, starts a conversation and challenges the thinking in disaster research, policy, and practice around gender.

The role of research literature and the media in disasters contributes to the (re)shaping and (re)telling of people’s disaster narratives. However, commonly, the stories and narratives of SGM individuals are omitted or ignored in disaster; they become invisible and excluded from the public’s construction and understanding of particular natural hazard events [58]. This exclusion contributes to minority groups’ vulnerability and lack of voice, but also ignores their resilient capacities, strengths, and contributions in the wider community. Complying with the gender binary, therefore, excludes non-binary minority genders from disaster discourse. It is imperative that gender minority voices and experiences become included in the wider discussions on disaster risk reduction.

Disasters provide an opportunity to explore vulnerabilities and resilience further when, sometimes, the private is forced into the public. Disaster events can assist in developing understanding on not only how natural hazards can impact populations, but how we as scholars and practitioners can work with communities to minimize risk for all in the face of natural hazards and the changing climate. There is a small body of literature that discusses people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, androgynous, and other genders in relation to experiences of disaster events. Dominey-Howes et al. [3] described how intersex, transgender, lesbian, and bisexual women were at risk of “corrective rape” following the Haiti earthquake. Following Hurricane Katrina, same-sex couples were not acknowledged as being in a relationship and, therefore, were excluded from receiving assistance [3,64], as the disaster model at the time of Hurricane Katrina was based on heteronormative assumptions of relationships [64,65].

Current DRR frameworks and policies further exacerbate disadvantages for sexual and gender minorities in disaster [3]. Gender minorities have been denied access to aid and emergency accommodation [2], which includes the arrest of Sharli’e Dominique, a transgender women for showering in a women’s restroom post Hurricane Katrina [65]. During the Mt Merapi eruption in 2010, waria were faced with no safe accommodation options when registering at a shelter given that registration only had gender binary options; in addition, no information was collected on waria when they evacuated [66].

People who identify outside of the normative gender binary of woman/man and who are not heterosexual or cisgender can live in fear of harassment, abuse, and violence, which can be heightened in disasters [2,3,53,66]. There were concerns from individuals seeking food parcels from St. Vincent de Paul because of the religious association of the charity, and the emergency personnel assuming cisgender identity of people a↵ected by the Christchurch earthquake [55]. Similarly, the Federation Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) followed “a heteronormative system of binary terminology and legislative inflexibility” [64] (p. 7), thereby excluding people within the New Orleans population that did not fit within the category of heterosexual and cisgender. Health is a major concern for individuals and groups who do not conform to heteronormative cultural norms. Gay men in Kingston, Jamaica

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 3984 10 of 14

known as “The Gully Queens” are discriminated against and forced to live out on the banks of a gully given that there is no safe shelter; the individuals who live on the river banks are at high risk of being dragged away by the water during hurricane and flood events [67].

The examples provided highlight how exclusion of diverse sexual and gender minorities is “underpinned by heteronormative assumptions in disaster response and recovery” [3] (p. 914). The woman/man binary and terminology is inadequate to address the increased marginalization of sex and gender minorities in disasters coupled with the Western perspective asserting gender dichotomy [1]. The examples discussed illustrate the importance of using appropriate and correct terminology in disaster management and for governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to “ensure safe access to and experiences in accommodation for all social groups” [2] (p. 250).

Gender construction that represents binary oppositions, derived from the dominant Western binary discourses, “problematizes claims to the universal applicability of the concepts around sex and gender” [24] (p. 84). This is seen in recent UNDRR policy documents and guidelines, as well as registration of the leading global DRR meeting for DRR policy and action. This not only upholds gender inequality, thereby excluding gender minorities, but also contributes to preparedness, response, and recovery e↵orts that may not be as e↵ective in reaching individuals and communities that are at greater risk and in need of assistance [2].

Health is a key element of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030) [40–42], yet there is little discussion in the disaster literature reviewed of the importance of providing gender-sensitive appropriate healthcare in relation to SGM individuals by health professionals who are sensitive and aware of the historical marginalization and persecution of SGM groups [46]. Healthcare professionals and organizations assisting in post-disaster events should have knowledge of some of the barriers, along with specific health risk factors that some people within SGM communities may face [46]. Health consideration and physical safety is paramount pre- and post-disaster given that people may require specialist care from injury or may need assistance with on-going health issues that may be exacerbated by disaster.

6. Recommendations

It is evident from our review that, firstly, there is a dearth of research on gender minorities in disaster events. Disaster research that assesses gender in some form need to acknowledge genders outside of the binary; this will not only make research more comprehensive in terms of representing more people within their study, but it may also work to undo some of the inequalities in disaster research and practice. Research should also not only look at the challenges people who identify outside of the gender binary may face, but also look at their capacities, strengths, and contributions to DRR.

Researchers and practitioners need to utilize the growing body of work on gender beyond the familiar binary, diversity of sex characteristics, and the issues related to imposing overly restrictive categories on diverse experiences [68] and apply it to disaster scholarship and policy. A simple and e↵ective starting point will be for the UNDRR to adopt the definitions of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics captured in the preambles of YP and YP+10 as a guide for future disaster research and policy. Using an expanded definition of gender and sex, we hope, will contribute to minimizing the exclusion of SGM perspectives in disaster policy, practice, and research. A further step would be to move “beyond the binary” and consider not only where sex and gender are relevant considerations but also to disrupt automatic assumptions that they are omnirelevant categories.

The scope of this paper was not able to ask or identify why gender and sex terms were used interchangeably. We propose that research can be conducted to identify why and how these choices influence policies and practices in DRR. We also posit that, for some articles, this may have been related to limited knowledge of the di↵erences, which is of concern. We, therefore, urge researchers in the field of DRR to familiarize with and better understand the sex and gender terms within the wider DRR terminology work happening at both national and international levels. We further recommend that

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 3984 11 of 14

suitably skilled researchers look at papers in non-English languages to add to this review, especially in relation to non-Western approaches.

Finally we advocate for DRR researchers and practitioners to utilize the growing body of work on gender diversity and issues concerning the gender binary [68], incorporating indigenous studies and scholarship on decolonizing gender identities, expressions, and experiences, as well as the scientific literature on more nuanced views on sex and sex diversity [23]. Within this, researchers must address methodological and safety concerns relevant to SGM for the countries and cultures under consideration and recognize where these may constitute limitations to participation and findings. They should also consider the gender identities, gender expressions, and people with diverse sex characteristics represented in the country of the research focus, and ensure that, if gender is included as part of the research, that all genders appropriate to that country and/or culture are recognized and included.

Limitations: The quality of evidence in primary research reports was not appraised and was limited to reports and documents published in English language. The review was not a full systematic review, and we limited the search terms on types of hazards due to the high volume of results produced for review in the time available.

Supplementary Materials: The following are available online at http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/20/3984/s1, File S1: Included papers.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, A.R., L.G., and J.C.; methodology, L.G. and A.R.; background literature, A.R., L.G., J.C., and K.B.; review, A.R. and L.G.; data curation, A.R., L.G., J.C., and K.B.; writing—original draft preparation, A.R., L.G., J.C., and K.B.; writing—review and editing, A.R., L.G., J.C., and K.B.

Funding: This research received no external funding.

Acknowledgments: The authors wish to acknowledge the support of Michael Fauchelle, Reference Librarian, Wellington Medical and Health Sciences Library, University of Otago, Wellington, for his contribution to the literature search. We sincerely thank JC Gaillard, Auckland University, for his insight provided into earlier drafts of this article which greatly improved the focus and content. No funding was received for this work.

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Week 13: Gender and Disaster Response

Guidelines for Gender Sensitive Disaster Management

Copyright © 2006 APWLD

Reproduction of this publication for educational or other

non-commercial purposes is authorised provided the source is fully

acknowledged.

Writer: Shyamala Gomez

Editor: Cholpon Akmatova

Cover design and layout: Naw Eh Mwee

This publication is supported by Mamacash and Cordaid

Photos by SRED, SP, Suraiya Kamaruzzaman, Judy A. Pasimio, Roots

for Equity

GUIDELINES FOR GENDER SENSITIVE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Practical Steps to Ensure Women’s Needs are Met And

Women’s Human Rights are Respected and Protected

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)

CONTENTS

FOREWORD 1

INTRODUCTION 4

IMMEDIATE RESPONSES DURING DISASTER RELIEF 5

PHASE

Identify Specific Needs of Women 6

Ensure that Emergency Relief Supplies Include Women’s 7

Specific Requirements

Ensure Women’s Access to Sufficient and Adequate Food 8

Food distribution should be equitable, transparent and respect 10

human dignity

Aid distribution for women should be handled by women 11

Ensure that Women’s Menstrual Needs Are Met 12

Ensure that All Disaster Affected People Have Access to 13

Adequate Shelters

Ensure Women’s Access to Adequate Toilet and Bathing Facilities17

Ensure Women’s Access to Free Health Care Services 21

Ensure Security and Safety of Women and Children 25

Protect Women from Violence and Abuse 27

Ensure Women’s Access to Psycho-Social Counselling 31

MID-TERM RESPONSES DURING THE RECOVERY PHASE 33

Ensure Women’s Participation in Management of Camps and 35

Temporary Shelters

Ensure Women’s Equal Access to Compensation Payments and 36

Rehabilitation Measures

Eliminate Head of Household Concept 39

Ensure Women’s Access to Information on Relief and 41

Rehabilitation Measures

Ensure Children’s Access to Education 43

LONG TERM RESPONSES DURING RECONSTRUCTION 45

PHASE

Ensure Women’s Participation in Decision Making Processes for 46

Rehabilitation and Reconstruction

Ensure that Reconstruction of Houses Meets Women’s and 49

Family Needs

Ensure Women’s Equal Ownership Rights to Land, House and 52

Property

Ensure Women’s Equal Access to Livelihood Opportunities 57

Raising Women’s Awareness of their Human Rights 61

Mobilise and Empower Women to Advocate for their Human 62

Rights

Protect Vulnerable and Marginalised Groups 64

Protect Migrant Workers 65

Reach out to Widows and Women Headed Households, Disabled 67

and Elderly

Reach out to Low Caste People 70

Ensure Stateless People’s Access to Relief Support 71

Protect Women – Victims of Disasters and Armed Conflict 72

Situations

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GENDER SENSITIVE 75

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

References 76

These Guidelines are the result of the documentation project “Survey of

Women’s Human Rights Violations in the Aftermath of the Tsunami in

India, Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka and the October 8, 2005

Earthquake in Pakistan” coordinated by Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law

and Development (APWLD), a women’s human rights network of over 140

members in 23 countries of Asia Pacific. This project developed in response

to the calls for support from our members involved in relief operations in

the aftermath of the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and their

reports raising women’s human rights concerns in Aceh province in

Indonesia, Tamil Nadu in India, Sri Lanka and the Andaman coast of

Thailand. When Azra Talat Sayeed, our member from Pakistan, reported

about the impact of the earthquake on women, especially women headed

households completely left out of relief assistance, the survey was

expanded to document women’s human rights violations in Northern

Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

“Women and men experience the same hardships,” replied Kofi Anan to a

question on how the UN was addressing women’s specific needs in the tsu-

nami aftermath, at the press-conference during his visit to Jakarta in

January 2005. There are a lot of people around the world, including aid

workers, who believe that disasters, such as the tsunami, affect everyone

equally and there is no need to focus on vulnerable groups, such as women,

children, elderly, marginalised groups such as Dalits in India, migrants,

religious and ethnic minorities and others.

Although gender disaggregated official statistics were not available in

some of the affected countries, the Survey confirms the earlier

observations that in Aceh, India and Sri Lanka more women died in the

tsunami then men, almost 80% of the dead were women. The tsunami not

only killed more women, it produced some very gender-specific after shocks,

ranging from women giving birth in unsafe conditions to new forms of

violence against women: forced recanalisation of women and “tsunami”

marriages. In Thailand, women were discriminated even in death: the

government assistance for funerals provided twice as much money for a

man’s death than for a woman’s because men were regarded as heads of

households and breadwinners. In Aceh, Indonesia, ulamas’, Islamic

religious leaders, interpretation of women’s disproportionately high death

FOREWORD

1

rates was that the tsunami was the God’s curse on women for their immoral

behaviour. As a result, the enforcement of Shariah Laws in post-tsunami

Aceh became stricter with Shariah police beating women in the streets

for not wearing headscarves. Similarly, in Pakistan women were blamed

for invoking the earthquake as the God’s curse for their sins.

In 2000, at the special session of the UN General Assembly, “Gender

equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”, the

Assembly highlighted the inefficiencies and inadequacies of existing

approaches and intervention methods in responding to natural disasters

and the need for gender perspectives to be incorporated whenever

disaster prevention, mitigation and recovery strategies are being

developed and implemented. The Commission on Status of Women further

recognised in 2002 that “gender is a highly significant factor, both in the

construction of social vulnerability to risk and in people’s organised

responses to hazards and disasters. Gender inequalities with respect to

enjoyment of human rights, political and economic status, land ownership,

housing conditions, education, health, in particular reproductive and sexual

health, and exposure to violence, make women more vulnerable before, during

and after disasters.”

However, five years after the concerns about the lack of a gendered

response to natural disasters have been expressed gender blind disaster

management recurred in the context of the Indian Ocean Tsunami and

the Earthquake in Paksitan. The Survey findings confirm that women are

more vulnerable during disasters as women, marginalised and disempowered

under normal circumstances, are more at risk because of their lower

socio-economic status, barriers to choice and lack of access to resources.

Gender neutral disaster management results in discrimination and

marginalisation of women because relief efforts rely on existing structures

of resource distribution that reflect the patriarchal structure of society.

Gender neutral relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts based on

the assumption that men’s and women’s needs are similar result in:

! Women giving birth in unsafe conditions

! Malnourished infants because their malnourished mothers cannot

breastfeed them

! Sexual abuse of women because there are no protection measures

and no separate toilets and bathrooms in camps and temporary

shelters

2

! Widows and women headed households unable to restore their

livelihoods because employment generation assistance focus on

areas which predominantly employ men

! Widows and women headed households unable to access food and

other aid supplies because of restriction of their movements (e.g.

purdah in Pakistan)

There is an urgent need to move from gender blindness to gender sensitivity

in helping the victims of natural disasters. Given that disasters such as

earthquakes, floods, droughts, hurricanes and landslides will always occur,

it is imperative to ensure that a gender perspective is included in all disaster

management programmes so that the relief efforts are able to properly

address women’s needs and prevent violations of women’s human rights.

We hope these Guidelines will be translated into various languages and

used by government, aid and relief agencies, international and local NGOs

in assisting disaster affected people around the world.

On behalf of APWLD, I would like to thank our members who conducted

the Survey, on which these Guidelines are based, for their hard work and

express my admiration for their commitment to the cause of protection

and promotion of women’s human rights: Fatima Burnad and her team at

Tamil Nadu Dalit Women’s Movement for their incessant fight for Dalit

women’s rights and against caste discrimination in India. TNDWM saved

many Dalits from starvation when relief food was denied to them; Titi

Soentoro and the team of Solidaritas Perempuan for their resilience and

dedication. Titi had to defer her term as Regional Coordinator of APWLD

Secretariat in Thailand because her team in Aceh needed her help to provide

relief support to the Acehnese survivors. Two members in her Aceh team

died in the tsunami and many lost family members. Ravadee

Prasertcharoensuk and Duangkamol Sirisook of Sustainable Development

Foundation, Thailand; Sunila Abeysekera of INFORM, Sumika Perera of

CATAW and Sarala Emmanuel of Suriya Women’s Development Centre, Sri

Lanka; and Azra Talat Sayeed and the research team of Roots for Equity,

Pakistan, for their hard work in conducting the Survey and special thanks

to Shyamala Gomez, the writer of the Guidelines, and Lin Chew, an adviser

of Global Fund for Women and Mamacash without whose “push” this project

would not have gone ahead.

Cholpon Akmatova

Project Coordinator

APWLD (Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development)

November 2006

3

These guidelines have been formulated to assist governments, the non state

sector and civil society in dealing with women who have been affected by

disaster. They are meant to be practical, easy to follow steps that need

to be taken in responding to women’s concerns in post disaster situations.

They have been categorized into immediate, mid term and long term

responses. However, there could be overlap in the responses and this factor

needs to be taken into consideration in implementing the guidelines.

The guidelines draw from reports of countries that were affected by the

December 2004 tsunami: Thailand, Aceh, India, Sri Lanka and the

earthquake in northern Pakistan in October 2005.

In disaster relief efforts, a rights based approach must be adopted so

that women’s rights are promoted and safeguarded. Women’s socio

economic and cultural rights, as well as their civil and political rights must

be ensured at all times.

Gender sensitive disaster management must be based on the fundamental

principles:

1. WOMEN’S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, therefore, relief

efforts should not only be based on needs, but on ensuring that

women’s human rights are protected and promoted.

2. EQUALIITY of women and men

3. NON-DISCRIMINATION against women

INTRODUCTION

These disasters occurred in vastly different places among

different populations, yet they share a common factor: during

and afterwards, women and children suffered most. That women

are disproportionately affected by disasters is indisputable-

yet it continues to be ignored: by governments, and by many

non governmental agencies involved in relief and reconstruction

efforts.

Caught in the Storm:The Impact of Natural Disasters on Women

The Global Fund for Women

4

Women specific requirements, such as sanitary pads and underwear, must

be on the priority list of emergency supplies.

Special care should be given to pregnant and breastfeeding women and

women with young children.

In the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami aftermath, in Tamil Nadu (India) babies

died for lack of milk. In Aceh (Indonesia) distribution of food, mattresses

and blankets was based on the needs of single adults with no consideration

of their children. As a result, mothers went hungry after sharing with

their children and had to sleep on the ground during rainy season.

IMMEDIATE RESONSES DURING DISASTER RELIEF PHASE

5

1. Women’s reliable and regular access to food and clean water is

important because women take care of food and water for

children, elderly and the entire family.

2. Special care should be given to pregnant and breastfeeding

women and women with young children

3. Include sanitary pads and underwear in relief supplies

4. Provide adequate separate toilets and bathrooms for women

5. Provide regular access to gynaecological services by female

health workers

6. Ensure women’s security and safety

7. Provide adequate shelter and housing

8. Provide psycho-social counselling

Identify Specific Needs of Women

Ask the women. Women are the most aware of what family needs are

and what immediate responses needed.

6

! Sanitary pads/towels and clean white cloth as in some

cultures women are not used to commercially manufactured

disposable pads such as Carefree brand products.

! Contraceptives

! Underwear and petticoats/underskirts

! Drinking water

! Baby food and infant milk formula

! Baby items such as diapers, blankets and clothes

! Bedding (mattresses, sheets, blankets, pillows)

! Nutritional supplements (multi vitamins, iron etc)

! Nutritious food

! Children’s clothing

! Warm clothing

! Culturally appropriate clothing (traditional clothing, e.g.

sarongs, head scarves, hijabs, salwar kameez, sarees, etc.)

! Toiletries: toilet rolls, soaps, shampoo

! Towels

! Mosquito netting

! Mosquito repellents and coils

! Spectacles, hearing aids, walking sticks

Ensure that Emergency Relief Supplies include:

7

Ensure that disaster affected people do not suffer from hunger, thirst

and malnutrition:

! A steady and sufficient flow of food and drinking water should be

maintained until disaster affected people are able to restore their

livelihoods, as long as it takes.

! Pregnant and breastfeeding women, widows, elderly, orphaned

children and disabled should be provided food aid until their food

security has been ensured.

! Distributed food must be of appropriate quality and fit for human

consumption.

! To meet nutritional needs, ensure access to a range of food: cereals,

pulses and fat sources.

! Basic food aid should include milk and sugar and be provided

regularly until families are able to restore food security.

! Breast milk substitutes should be included in the food aid package

for families with infants as in disaster situations under stress and

trauma mothers have lactating problems.

! Food aid should be culture specific taking into consideration food

habits of different communities.

! Consult women about the make up of the ‘food basket’ or essential

food items for distribution.

! Basic cooking facilities such as cooking utensils, stoves and firewood

must be provided.

Ensure Women’s Access to Sufficient and Adequate Food

8

Aceh (Indonesia)

In the first three months after the tsunami, the supply of food

and other basic needs was one of the major problems. Women

first fed their children and very often went hungry so many of

them suffered from malnutrition and hunger. Malnutrition of

pregnant and breastfeeding women led to malnutrition and

morbidity of their babies.

In addition to insufficient supply, food distributed by various

international and national agencies was mainly instant noodles.

Majority of evacuees living in makeshift tents and barracks

lacked appropriate kitchen utensils to cook instant noodles.

Other food supplies were biscuits, canned food or rice without

any accompanying side dishes and there were frequent incidents

of expired food products.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Rights in Nanggroe Aceh

Darussalam

India

Entire communities of Dalits and Irula did not receive any

assistance from the Indian Government or NGOs as they were

not seen as directly affected by the tsunami because they had

not suffered human losses and property damages. However, they

had lost their livelihood sources such as fishing and collecting

shells in backwaters that became sand clogged in the tsunami

and agricultural land became uncultivable due to salinisation.

Drinking water had become a “mirage” after the tsunami as

water sources had been salinised. With no means to earn living

and no relief support, many Dalit families were on the verge of

starvation.

“We are hungry. It is cruel to let people suffer from hunger,”

said Sundari from Kalpakam. Relief operations did not reach

the Dalits until public “hue and cry” raised a few weeks later.

Tsunami Aftermath: Human Rights Violations of Dalit Women

9

! Food should be distributed to everyone who lost food security as a

result of a disaster: to those who lost livelihoods and jobs as a

result of a disaster, not only those who lost family members.

! Food distribution mechanisms should respect dignity of disaster

affected people without making them fight for food or feeling like

beggars.

! Women should be receivers of food to ensure that food is not sold

by men to collect money for alcohol.

People in Devanapattinam queuing to collect relief materials from a

private charity

Food distribution should be equitable, transparent and respect

human dignity

10

! Include women in aid teams. Women groups need to be at the centre

of planning, implementation and management of food aid. There

should be minimal involvement of military forces for delivery of

goods in the aftermath of disasters.

! Special efforts must be made to reach out to women as in most

societies, women feel too intimidated to collect aid supplies. In

Pakistan, in the aftermath of the October 2005 earthquake a vast

majority of women headed households were left out of the

distribution system because in a conservative Muslim society women

should not be seen in public unaccompanied by men.

! Women should be encouraged to access aid directly.

! Aid distribution points should have public toilets, including separate

toilets for women, access to drinking water and shaded sitting

arrangements.

! At aid distribution points, separate queues for women should be

made, especially in cultures where gender segregation is practiced.

Aid distribution for women should be handled by women

Pakistan

In Muzaffarabad district, at a food aid distribution point, there

were two widows queuing for food in the long line of men. One

was nearly fainting from the heat and the long hours she had

been waiting for her turn to come. She also had a fever. The

distribution point had no drinking water available or toilet

facilities. Nor was there any shade or arrangements for people

to take some shelter from the heat. In the end, our research

team members had to persuade the Army personnel at the

distribution point to share some of their water with the women.

The women and others at the distribution point reported that

they had to hire a vehicle for Rs 500 to come to the distribution

point and take back the dry food supplies which were provided

there.

Earthquake Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights

in Pakistan

11

Women’s menstrual concerns need immediate attention. Current disaster

relief practices are culturally and gender insensitive to the needs of

women. The humiliation and embarrassment of women must be avoided when

distribution of sanitary napkins and underwear is undertaken. Women

are reluctant to approach men for their personal hygiene requirements.

Ensure that:

! males are NOT involved in the distribution of sanitary napkins and

underwear.

! women ARE involved in the distribution of sanitary napkins and

underwear.

! adequate cloth and washing facilities are provided for menstruating

women.

Ensure that Women’s Menstrual Needs Are Met

Sri Lanka

The distribution of underwear, bras and panties was carried

out publicly, with embarrassing comments about which sizes were

appropriate for which women. In addition, distribution of

sanitary products were under the control of male camp officials,

who handed them out one at a time, so women had to go back

and ask again and again. There were no contraceptives available,

even though husbands and male partners insisted on sex.

Caught in the Storm: The Impact of Natural Disasters on Women

12

Ensure that:

! Everyone who needs shelter has access to temporary housing

facilities. E.g. in Thailand, survivors who did not have proof of

ownership of a house before the tsunami were denied access to

temporary housing.

! Temporary shelters, including tents, must be comfortable and

habitable. In disaster situations, women tend to spend more time in

shelters than men looking after children.

! Temporary shelters should provide adequate space and privacy:

o each family should have a separate space depending on the

size of the family;

o married couples and children should have separate rooms;

o Dressing rooms for women and rooms for breast feeding

should be provided.

! Conditions conducive to disease and structural hazards should be

eliminated:

o Temporary shelters and houses must be constructed of the

material appropriate for the climate of the country affected

by the disaster

o Tar and tin sheets must never be used as construction

material for human dwellings. They trap heat and make

shelters uninhabitable. Climatic conditions should be taken

into account when constructing shelters as people may end

up living in shelters for many months.

o Roofs must not leak during rain.

o Tents and temporary houses should not be constructed too

closely together to provide some form of privacy.

Ensure that All Disaster Affected People Have Access to

Adequate Shelters

13

! Location of shelters should be considered carefully. They should

not be built on hills vulnerable to landslides or low lying areas

vulnerable to floods during rainy season.

! Tents need to be designed with better secure fastenings so that it

would provide a sense of security to women.

! In tent distribution, priority should be given to widows, women

headed households, male-headed households who have physical or

mental disabilities and the elderly, through direct door-to-door

service.

! Old-style tents with slanting sides need to be phased out as they

leave no space for mobility. Tents with ventilation facilities need

to be promoted. Cooling and heating mechanisms need to be

developed for maintaining temperatures inside the tents. If not,

they can be very cold in winter and very hot in summer.

! Built-in storage space should be part of tents for bedding and

clothes to keep them safe from getting wet or damaged.

Camp Lampeunerut, Aceh, flooded when the rainy season started.

14

Temporary shelters look more like cattle sheds than human

dwellings, Tamil Nadu

Temporary shelter built on hills damaged by landslides, Seubun

Ketapang, Aceh

15

Aceh (Indonesia)

After the tsunami, the government built IDPs’ barracks on the

top of the hill. The barracks had walls made of thin wood,

laminated flimsy triplex and no kitchen. There were various types

and sizes of barracks. Some barracks were the size 4×3 meters

accommodating approximately 4-7 persons. Besides being very

hot, the barracks built in March 2005 had begun to deteriorate

by early June 2005. Its thin walls had begun to peel off and

parts of the floor had started to crack. Some of the barracks

were hit by the land slide and became uninhabitable. The

facilities in the barrack were inadequate, with absence of

washing, bathing, latrine facilities. Men and women used same

bathing rooms (when such rooms were available); sexual

harassment or violence against women was frequent.

The conditions faced by women in barracks were frequently

pointed out to both the government and NGOs who visited and

also to the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency.

But until December 2005 the situation remained unchanged.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in Aceh

16

Adequate hygiene and sanitation facilities are important because lack

of them affects women’s reproductive health.

Ensure that:

! women have access to sufficient and regular supplies of clean water

for bathing and personal hygiene. Average water use for drinking,

cooking and personal hygiene in any household should be at least 15

litres per person per day.

! The maximum distance from any household to the nearest water

point should be 500 meters.

! Water sources and systems should be maintained to ensure

availability of appropriate quantities of water consistently and on

a regular basis.

! women have separate toilet facilities.

! toilets and bathrooms have walls, secure doors that can be locked

and a proper drainage system. Toilets should be closed structures

which enable women to use them with a degree of privacy.

! toilets and bathrooms are built of durable material to prevent men

from making peep holes.

! a maximum of 20 people per toilet. Camp management and residents

must develop a system to maintain the toilets in a clean and hygienic

condition to minimise the spread of fly and mosquito borne diseases.

! arrangements should be made for sanitary disposal of solid

waste.

! within the camps, toilets and bathrooms must be located not far

from the living quarters (50 metres) and provided with lighting to

Ensure Women’s Access to Adequate Toilet and Bathing

Facilities

17

ensure safety of women

! pathways to and from toilets and bathrooms must be well lit to

ensure safety of women

! private laundering areas should be available for women to wash and

dry underwear and sanitary cloths.

! dressing rooms for women and rooms for breast feeding should be

provided.

India

In Kilmanakkudi village, Kanyakumari district, there were seven

camps housing 1,225 people. Only 10 toilets and 10 bathrooms

were available for 1,225 people! Toilets and bathrooms were

either too far from camps or in the midst of camps. They lacked

proper drainage and water facilities and were unhygienic.

In Nagai district, Kesavan Palayam village camps, the bathrooms

and toilets had no doors so women found it very difficult to use

the toilets and underwent a lot of trauma. There was one hand

pump which pumped up salt water. Four water tanks were placed

near the camps but only three of the tanks were filled with

water. Each family, irrespective of the size, could get only 40

litres of water per day for their cooking and drinking needs.

Any extra requirement of water should have been met by the

family. The camp residents, mainly women and children, had to

walk as far as a ilometre away from their shelter to fetch water

from other sources like Kathanchavadi village. Rain water

reserved in a pond was used for washing and bathing. (India)

Tsunami Aftermath: Human Rights Violations of Dalit Women

18

Makeshift bathroom in a camp, Aceh

Makeshift bathroom in a camp, India

19

Men burnt cigarette holes in camp toilets made out of thick vinyl material. This

caused general distrust amongst women in using these facilities. Mothers often

reported escorting their daughters to toilets and guarding outside.” (Pakistan)

Aceh (Indonesia)

After the tsunami, the Seubun Ketapang residents occupied

barracks on the top of the hill. This not only hindered the

residents’ mobility but also the barracks did not have sufficient

water supply. The water tank was placed at the foot of the hill

so women were forced to walk up and down to fetch water. In

addition, the bathing and latrine facilities built by the

government were inappropriate for use. With no water, the

latrine could not be used. The bathing facility did not have a

sewage system and water from bathing and washing flooded

the barrack yards. Poor sanitation triggered diarrhoea in

children and several barrack’s residents, and affected women’s

reproductive health. (Indonesia)

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Rights in Nanggroe Aceh

Darussalam;

20

Ensure that:

! access to health services is granted to all disaster affected people

irrespective of their status: citizenship, migration, registration,

medical insurance etc. The right to health services is a fundamental

human right guaranteed by Article 25 of the Universal Declaration

of Human Rights, 1948.

! pregnant women and women with young children are identified and

provided with free medical post natal and maternity care and

additional nutrition for the women and children

! women who delivered after a disaster are provided with extra

reproductive and child health care and psycho-social counselling as

they are more vulnerable due to the stress experienced during the

disaster.

! necessary vitamins and other supplements are provided to pregnant

and lactating mothers.

! a conducive, sanitary and safe environment is set up for childbirth

purposes.

! medical assistance is provided to lactating mothers who have lost

their babies in disaster and have milk clotting in their breasts.

! adequate provision and easy access to different forms of

contraception is facilitated as soon as possible.

! medical services are offered proactively by health workers through

regular visits to camp, shelter and disaster affected communities.

! female health workers are included in medical teams servicing camps

and affected communities.

! female obstetricians and gynaecologists are at hand to take care

of maternity and child related health concerns.

Ensure Women’s Access to Free Health Care Services

21

! children are inoculated against childhood diseases within stipulated

time periods

! women have access to general health care clinics

! hospitalised women are provided with shelter after they leave

hospital and not asked to leave hospital even if they have no place

to go. Some of them may be disabled as a result of the disaster.

Pakistan

Injured women were brought to hospitals in the chaos in the

aftermath of the earthquake. Once they had been treated they

were asked to leave. Many of these women had no relatives with

them, as they had been evacuated by helicopters from remote

mountainous areas. The hospital personnel in many cases did not

know where their patients had come from. The women themselves

would sometimes not be able to clearly identify their villages,

or in some cases had only phone numbers through which they

could contact their families. The phone lines were not working

or there was no response from the numbers. However, even when

women had no people to look after them, they were being asked

to leave the hospital premise.

A majority of expectant mothers in the tent camps delivered

their babies in the tents. Even if medical aid was available in the

camps, the medical doctors present were mostly men. Women

and families were very hesitant to bring the doctors either to

the tents or to take women to the medical units. In nearly all

cases identified, deliveries had been carried out by mid-wives,

commonly known as dais in Pakistan. These women were charging

Rs 1,000 to 2,000 per case. Another woman in Bagh, AJK,

reported that she had to travel to Rawalpindi (about five hour’s

journey across mountainous terrain) as her delivery had to be

through C-section surgery. The cost of the operation came to

Rs 15,000 which she took as a loan and had not been able to

repay at the time the research team interviewed her. A third

woman reported walking in rain to get to the camp, and had her

delivery at the camp at night with no medical assistance. An

extreme situation was reported by a woman who had delivered

her baby whilst walking with her parents to reach a tent camp

and the umbilical cord had to be cut using a stone. The woman

was living alone in a tent camp with her four children.

22

Women, in the period during their pregnancies and after

delivery, had little help in the tents, and were basically looking

after themselves, to the extent that some reported fetching

water, washing clothes and cooking food themselves. At the

Mira Camp, Bisham, NWFP, according to a Cuban doctor, women

were only brought to them when their condition had

deteriorated and become serious, otherwise their husbands

or other male household members were not allowing them to

seek medical aid. In many of the tent camps there were no

female doctors on call.

Earthquake Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

Pakistan

23

Sri Lanka

One of the areas most neglected was that of reproductive and

sexual health care to tsunami affected women. Many complained

that they had no access to contraception until six months had

passed. The damage to hospitals included destruction of drug

stores and many hospitals did not have stocks of contraceptives

– pills, injectibles, loops, condoms – until several weeks after

the tsunami.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Rights in Sri Lanka

Cut Ita, a tsunami survivor from Aceh, conceived her 3 rd

child in

a tent camp. When we met her in Banda Aceh in July 2005 she

was 6 month pregnant. She was very anxious about the delivery

as hospitals charged USD 100 per day for health services. As a

survivor dependent on food handouts from aid agencies she could

not afford to pay hospital fees. However, she did not have to

pay delivery charges. She miscarried soon due to stress and

malnutrition.

APWLD

Aceh (Indonesia)

In the tsunami aftermath, women’s health in Lampuuk village

became a grave concern. Due to inadequate health services,

women in the village experienced difficulties in maintaining

their reproductive health. Even if doctors paid visits to the

village, health examinations were normally conducted in open

tents without proper examination beds or in unenclosed areas.

Therefore, women were reluctant to examine their

reproductive organs when they had any pain or ailments. By

December 2005, three pregnant and breastfeeding women were

unable to receive access to health services. They were also

unable to obtain vitamins and necessary vaccines as well as

nutritional food.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Rights in Nanggroe Aceh

Darussalam

24

Ensure that:

! ‘vigilance committees are formed in the communities consisting of

women to act as monitoring officers to ensure maximum security

and safety for women

! written and verbal safety guidelines are provided to be further

developed by committees themselves against possible violations

against women and children.

! women are trained to raise immediate alarms against violations in

the camp sites.

! women police officers, and if necessary, women from the armed

forces provide security in the camps.

! women police officers are stationed within the camps to record

and address safety complaints made by women in the camps and

monitor women’s rights violations in the camps.

! night security is maintained at camp sites.

! security guards (male and female) should be trained to be sensitive

to women’s apprehensions and problems in order to facilitate

assistance seeking by women

! Additional security measures need to be taken in camps and

communities to prevent abductions of women and girls for forced

prostitution, sex trafficking and trade in human internal organs.

Ensure Security and Safety of Women and Children

25

Pakistan

In post earthquake Pakistan, it was reported on TV news, that

a number of children had been kidnapped from their tent camp.

Two girls who escaped were able to tell their story. A group of

young girls and boys were crossing a road to get to a water site.

A vehicle came by and people from the vehicle sprayed some

substance on the children. When they regained consciousness

they found themselves in a secure building in an unknown locality

among other kidnapped children. These children had been living

with their aunt, as both parents had been killed during the

earthquake. According to the girls, kidnapped persons were used

for forceful removal of their internal organs. These sisters were

able to escape and were currently living in one of the orphanages.

The house where kidnapped children were kept was raided by

the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and a number of people

were arrested but no children were present at the facility

anymore. It is believed that other kidnapped children have been

moved to another area

Earthquake Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights

in Pakistan

Sri Lanka

Women at IDP camps were concerned about safety of their

own and their children. Although no actual incidents occurred,

there was a sense of insecurity and fear that prevailed in most

camps. A girl on her way to the makeshift toilet had been

dragged by two men but she managed to escape.There had been

attempts at molestation by men in charge of camps. Husbands

were abusive since alcohol was smuggled into the camps.There

were police and security personnel in the camps, but they were

primarily present to maintain discipline.They had not received

clear instructions regarding possible interventions and responses

to complaints of gender based violence. In some camps where

women police officers had been detailed, their presence gave

the woman and girl children a sense of security. (Sri Lanka)

Women and Media Collective, Sri Lanka

26

Studies show violence against women, including sexual abuse, increases

during disasters. However, because of stigma and ostracism related to

sexual violence the cases go unreported. Increased alcohol consumption

and substance abuse results in increased domestic violence and sexual

harassment in camps.

Some relief policies offering financial assistance may lead to ‘new’ forms

of violence against women, such as forced recanalisation surgery of

sterilised women in families that lost children in the disaster and forced

marriages.

Ensure:

! Accessible counselling services for women victims of violence and

other abuses

! That free legal services are provided for women survivors of

violence

! Full protection of victims of violence and witnesses from reprisals

! Accessible medical examinations on reporting of violence

! Accessible reporting procedures when violence against women is

committed

! That women are made aware of their right to be free from physical,

emotional and sexual violence

! That women are made aware of the redress available when affected

by violence (e.g. court process, police complaint, medical treatment,

counselling, support groups)

! That self help groups consisting of women are established within

the camps to give emotional and other forms of support to women

affected by violence

Protect Women from Violence and Abuse

27

! That ‘vigilant’ groups consisting of men and women are set up to

respond to violent incidents

! That police, government officials and non governmental workers

take women’s complaints of violence and harassment seriously and

take measures to assist women access redress mechanisms

! A ban on sale of alcohol within camp sites

! Improve lighting and transport facilities to and from the camp to

other community locations such as schools, bus stands, markets and

shops

! Government policy makers should make an assessment of the

potential impact of their interventions before adopting a policy

such as offering financial assistance to sterilised women for

recanalisation surgery and to newly married couples. Such policies

led to new forms of violence against women: forced sterilisation

and “tsunami” marriages in post-tsunami India.

28

Sri Lanka

In many cases, while tsunami-affected persons were in the

welfare centres set up immediately after the tsunami, women

complained of domestic violence and pressure to engage in sexual

relations by husbands. Alcoholism, male irresponsibility towards

their families and insensitivity to the lack of privacy (in

demanding sex) were cited as being some of the causes that led

to violence.

Single women, including those widowed by the tsunami,

complained of a range of sexual advances made by men in the

camps as well as by officials. In the transitional housing the

situation was not that much better because people continued

to live in very close proximity to one another, there was no

privacy and women were vulnerable to harassment and abuse.

In Batticaloa and in Galle, two women complained of attempted

sexual abuse; they had both made complaints to the Police

officers in charge of security but they had not received

adequate response. In Hambantota, one young woman had been

sexually abused and abandoned by the perpetrator who fled

the shelter when she became pregnant. Today she is subject to

marginalisation because of the child.

In the transitional housing settlements, domestic disputes

including violence were reported. These primarily related to

tensions within families because the male family members tended

to use the money received as compensation for liquor and

gambling. Men would also sell the rations for money, often

disregarding their family’s needs. As Kottegoda points out,

‘Domestic conflict has arisen because women are not directly

given monetary relief handouts which could then help better

management of household expenditures on food and other family

needs. This is because men tend to receive relief and

rehabilitation grants as head of the household, which is based

on a preconceived assumption that it is men who provide for the

family.’

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

Sri Lanka

29

India

The government’s announcement of financial assistance to

“sterilised” women of reproductive age to undergo recanalisation

surgery caused additional pain and trauma to the surviving women

who had lost their children in the tsunami. They were forced by

their husbands to undergo recanalisation operation, which

reverses sterilisation by reconnecting the fallopian tubes. The

fact that many women had previously been encouraged by the

government to go through sterilisation operations makes the

situation all the more tragic. Some women had undergone

sterilisation because the family desperately needed the Rs. 200

(USD 4.5) offered under the government family planning scheme.

At least, 14 cases of forced recanalisation were reported in

the five surveyed districts of Tamil Nadu. “My husband

threatened me that if I do not go for recanalisation he will not

live with me. So I decided to risk recanalisation even if I die,”

said Radhika from Kalkuttam village, Kanyakumari district.

The government’s well-intended policy of providing financial

assistance to the survivors, who had planned their marriages

before the tsunami gave rise to a new phenomenon of “tsunami

marriages”. An additional incentive was a promise of a permanent

housing to newlyweds. 21 “tsunami” marriages were reported in

the surveyed areas but only two couples received the promised

compensation of Rs. 25,000 (USD 562).

There were many instances of forced marriages against the will

of girls below 18 years (minimum legal age for marriage in India)

triggered by another “well-intended” government policy. The

government announced that girls in the age group of 14 to 18

and young single women above 18 who had lost their parents in

the tsunami were eligible for cash compensation. In Sothikuppam

village only, Cuddalore district, four girls under 18 year had

been forced into marriage.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Human Rights of Dalit Women

30

Ensure that:

! psychological counselling for post traumatic stress is provided for

women and children, widows, elderly and disabled women

! female counsellors are at hand to provide counselling services

! psycho-social counselling facilities should be set up at camps and

temporary shelters

! psychological care should not focus on prescribing anti-depressants,

but on trauma healing and support

! self-help groups among the affected women should be formed to

give emotional support to each other. Women can heal themselves in

the long term when they are involved in helping each other overcome

suffering.

! psychological support and assistance in finding/ identifying dead

or missing family members should be provided

Ensure Women’s Access to Psycho-Social Counselling

31

Aceh (Indonesia)

Balai Inong (‘Women’s Houses)

Villages in Aceh have women’s houses where women meet and

exchange views, network and work together on various projects.

Having these safe houses would provide a place for women to

voice their concerns and also be a place in which they can share

their experiences, share their grief and develop their skills in

different fields.

India

Ananthi’s 5 month old baby sleeping in the cradle was washed

away into the sea. She has been using herbal treatment to relieve

the physical pain in her milk clotted breasts but she cannot deal

with the unbearable mental pain of losing her baby. There are

thousands of women like Ananthi who have to live with such pain.

And most of them are not receiving any psychological counselling.

Some of them are on the verge of insanity. 24 year old Minn,

who lost her 4 month old baby, was admitted to hospital as a

mentally disturbed patient. Rosemary, a widow, who lost her

two sons, faces abuse form the society because she was not

able to save her children. (Tamil Nadu, India)

Women’s Human Rights Concerns in Tsunami Affected

Countries, March 2005, APWLD

32

leading to sexual harassment and violence and lack of kitchens forcing

women to cook in unsafe make-shift facilities resulting in fires.

Women’s participation in management of camps and temporary shelters is

important to ensure that women’s needs are met. When women’s voices are

not heard, it results in lack of separate toilets and bathrooms for women

leading to sexual harassment and violence and lack of kitchens forcing

women to cook in unsafe make-shift facilities resulting in fires.

MID-TERM RESPONSES DURING THE RECOVERY PHASE

Till the tsunami struck nobody ever realised to what extent

male domination prevailed in these communities. Nobody asked

why women were not consulted. Even if one had asked the fisher

men folk they would have replied, “our women will go by what

we decide’. The men in charge of camps were shown a choice of

shelters and their decision was taken and women were not

consulted nor taken into the decision making process of choosing

the design of shelters. (Tamil Nadu, India)

Tsunami Aftermath: Human Rights Violations of Dalit Women

33

To ensure women’s equal access to compensation payments and

rehabilitation measures, head of household concept should be eliminated

as it discriminates against women in societies when men are normally

registered as heads of households. Information on relief assistance,

including clear procedures on applying for such assistance, should be

disseminated to all disaster affected people in camps, temporary shelters

and those outside camps and temporary shelters, including those in

hospitals and remote islands, forests and mountainous areas.

Temporary shelters for Dalits in Tamil Nadu, India

34

Ensure that:

! Women are elected to camp management teams/committees.

! Women are encouraged to participate in camp decision making.

! Women are consulted in the design and lay out of camps and shelters.

! Women are not represented by male family members in camp

management.

! Meetings on camp management are held at convenient times for

women to attend (for example, not late in the evenings or at night)

! If women traditionally do not come to community meetings, that

shelters or tents are visited individually to elicit women’s views.

! Conflict solving mechanisms should be set up within the camps to

deal with internal conflicts that may arise due to distribution of

aid.

Ensure Women’s Participation in Management of Camps

and Temporary Shelters

35

Ensure that:

! Compensation schemes are equitable and transparent. Compensation

benefits must be provided to everyone affected by a disaster,

directly or indirectly: those who lost livelihoods and jobs as a result

of a disaster, not only those who lost assets.

! Government and aid agencies should ensure that relief and

rehabilitation measures are provided equitably and impartially by

adopting clear and transparent targeting mechanisms and criteria

such as making public the list of disaster victims and the list of

beneficiaries.

! Compensation payment should be made on individual basis, not to

head of household.

! Cash compensation payments should be made to both spouses.

Reports indicate men tend to spend compensation money on alcohol

and other things not related to family needs.

! Compensation should be paid to joint bank accounts, in case of

married couples.

! Compensation for loss of assets such as houses/boats/equipment

should be adequate and sufficient to replace lost assets. Adequate

compensation is important to help people to restore their livelihoods

and start earning income for the families.

! In disaster situations, death certificates should not be the main

eligibility criteria for compensation for loss of a family member. In

India, with thousands of people missing after the tsunami, women

who could not present dead bodies of their husbands were not

eligible for compensation for loss of a husband.

! If married sons are given the right to claim access to benefits (the

right to claim house damages), married daughters living with their

parents should also be given the same rights.

Ensure Women’s Equal Access to Compensation Payments

and Rehabilitation Measures

36

! Government agencies should not set a short period limit to apply

for relief assistance and compensations as disaster victims may

have failed to apply within the given period because they were in

hospital, observing mourning rituals or in remote areas without

access to information on relief assistance.

! Recognise the right of persons living in rented accommodation or

engaging in business in rented premises to receive compensation

for their losses.

Sri Lanka

The Tsunami Housing Policy states that cash grants are supposed

to go to the owner of the previous land/house. In practice the

cash allocations have been deposited into existing bank accounts

which were used earlier to deposit tsunami assistance grants

of Rupees 5000 (about $49). In most cases these bank accounts

are in the name of the male head of the household. Although the

banks were instructed to make these accounts joint accounts,

often this did not happen.

The District Secretaries or the relevant authorities should make

sure that the housing cash grants go into bank accounts owned

by the previous land/house owner, especially when the previous

owner was the woman of the household, or go into joint accounts.

(Sri Lanka)

Gender Sensitive Guidelines on Implementing the

Tsunami Housing Policy, COHRE

Pakistan

Compensatory polices were male biased. Only married males were

eligible for compensatory cheques for the loss of a home. A

widowed woman mentioned that her married daughter, who had

been living with her, was denied access to compensation although

thousands of similar claims by sons were immediately honoured

by the government officials.

Earthquake Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights

in Pakistan

37

Thailand

The government provided higher compensation payments for

damaged or lost boats which had been registered prior to the

tsunami. Many tsunami affected fisher families had not

registered boats because they were unaware of registration

requirements. Even if the boats were registered, the

compensation amount was insufficient for fisherwomen to

recover their livelihoods. This is a critical problem in situations

where women have lost their husbands/ breadwinners. The

women have additional household burdens where they have the

responsibility to earn a sufficient income to support the family.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

Thailand

Muslim women could not access most of the relief available

during the first weeks after the tsunami because they had gone

into the 40 day period of mourning required by their religion.

They also had to encounter many obstacles in trying to register

for long-term benefits after the lists prepared by government

officials for relocation, for example, had been closed. A woman

from Galle who had been hospitalised after the tsunami due to

injuries said that she could not make proper applications for

relief and therefore had trouble finding allocation of space in

a camp. Some had received the outright grant of Rs. 5000/ per

month for a period of between two to four months. There were

some who had not received this at all. Again, this seemed to

depend on how successful the women were in getting access to

government officials.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in Sri

Lanka

38

Ensure that:

! Support, including financial compensation, is provided on an

individual basis, rather than based on ‘head of household’ concept.

In Thailand, the government paid twice as much to families for the

funeral expenses of men than for those of women based on the

assumption that men are heads of households.

! Government and aid agencies should not identify the ‘head of the

household’ as the main claim holder. In India, compensation for loss

of children was given only to the hands of the men unless the

husband died in the tsunami. This resulted in some men spending

compensation money on alcohol on other things not related to family

needs.

! ‘Head of household’ concept should be removed from legislation

and government policy implementation acts, including official

documentation.

Eliminate Head of Household Concept

Sri Lanka

Government compensation for loss often completely excludes

women in societies where only males are recognised as heads of

households. The Sri Lankan government offered 5,000 rupees

(about $49) to families affected by the tsunami, but in

Batticaloa, the regional capital of the eastern coastal area,

authorities recognised only male headed households, so women

whose husbands had died could not claim the money.

Sarala Emmanuel, Suriya Women’s Development Centre, Sri

Lanka

39

Thailand

The Thai government made a policy that as long as the name of

the head of the household appears on the form or document,

full compensation can be paid. Such regulations have been

difficult to follow in some households where the head of the

household has been unable to perform the role of a breadwinner.

For example, the head of the household is ill and the responsibility

has fallen on a daughter. Adopted measures do not take into

consideration the actual situation where women perform the

tasks of a head of the household. Government officials refuse

to recognise such situations and there is no mechanism to ensure

that women who have been the breadwinners of the household

receive equitable assistance.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in

Thailand

40

Ensure that:

! Information on relief assistance, including clear procedures on

applying for such assistance, is disseminated to all disaster affected

people in camps, temporary shelters and those outside camps and

temporary shelters, including those in hospitals and remote islands,

forests and mountainous areas.

! Special efforts are made to reach out to women in their shelters

within the camps as in some cultures women do no participate in

public meetings where information is normally announced.

! Information is in reader friendly simple language and can be

understood by all.

! Special efforts should be made to disseminate information to

illiterate communities.

! Women officials are involved in the dissemination of information.

! the dissemination of information which provides information on

facilities/ loans/ grants available for women to start on livelihoods

such as coir work, pottery, and other small and medium enterprises

! All information is shared with women who cannot access information

easily due to cultural and religious constraints and that assistance

to those who failed to apply for assistance due to lack of access to

information is provided.

Ensure Women’s Access to Information on Relief and

Rehabilitation Measures

41

42

Thailand

‘I was in the hospital so I did not hear or receive any information

about government assistance for children. By the time I came

out of the hospital and applied three times for the assistance,

there was no response from the government. I found out from

the government official later that I had missed the deadline

and that the fund for this had already finished,’ said Nu Lee,

tsunami survivor in Thailand.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in

Thailand

Ensure that:

! Halls or community centres are provided so that educational

activities can resume as soon as possible

! Food, school uniforms, books and other stationery items are

provided for children free of charge

! Schools are relocated and rebuilt as soon as possible

! Temporary housing is located close to schools

! Free transport facilities are provided for children to travel to school

Ensure Children’s Access to Education

Aceh (Indonesia)

In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami hardly anyone paid

attention to schooling of children. Later, when public transport

services resumed, they were limited to certain hours. This caused

difficulties for many school children who had to go to school

outside the village. Meanwhile, school cost became nearly

unaffordable as there was an extraordinary post tsunami price

hike. To cover the cost of schooling, mothers had to divert funds

from other needs, in particular, money for nutritious food. Many

children in Lham Lhom resumed schooling, but later quitted due

to their school being far away and absence of transportation.

The school lacked equipment and the school fee was too high.

Several families decided to stop education for their girls and

give opportunity for the boys to continue school.

43

The Indonesian government did not have a clear plan for

reconstruction of the education facilities in the tsunami

affected areas. A year after the tsunami, there were still many

school-aged children facing difficulty in reaching schools

located far from their settlements. In addition, there were no

serious efforts to bring new teachers in to replace many

teachers who had died during the tsunami. The government also

did not provide financial aid to help families to send their

children back to school.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in

Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam

44

To ensure women’s needs are addressed, government and aid agencies

should involve women in the consultative and decision making processes:

from camp administration and disaster management committees to policy

making bodies for reconstruction efforts.

Dalit women received fishing nets from SRED, a local NGO

LONG TERM RESPONSES DURING

RECONSTRUCTION PHASE

“Women must be at the heart of all recovery and reconstruction

processes. For decades, they have been the lifeline of their

communities, leading survival systems and mutual aid networks,

including among the internally displaced and refugee

communities. Women are not just victims, they are survivors,

and they need to be part of the solution. The reweaving of the

social fabric of life is the foundation for reconstruction and a

necessary part of the healing process. It is women, in their

families and their communities, who are playing this role.”

Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, UNIFEM

45

Participation of disaster affected women at local and national levels in all

aspects of recovery and reconstruction is important. Women must actively

contribute not only to matters concerning women, but also be involved in

issues concerning the community side by side with male members of the

community. Aid agencies must make special efforts to reach out to women

because in some cultures gender segregation and women’s seclusion norms

restrain women even from accessing food aid, let alone participating in

community meetings to voice their concerns.

Ensure that:

! Women are included in all decision making structures at every level:

national, local and village governments, aid agencies, international

and local NGOs and community based groups.

! To ensure that government policies, procedures and practices are

gender sensitive,

Coordination between the different relief agencies in the disaster

affected areas that relief measures are applied to all irrespective of

official procedures (registered and non registered migrants, registered

and non registered fishermen, ethnic groups)

A unit that deals specifically with the concerns of women post disaster

must be established within institutional structures set up to deal with

post tsunami reconstruction.

! All decision making processes concerning affected communities are

transparent, just, equitable and fair.

! Government and aid agencies should consult with the affected

people in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of

their assistance programmes.

! Affected communities, especially women, are consulted about

decisions concerning their lives: from closure of camps and

temporary shelters, relocation and design of houses to employment

generation and livelihoods opportunities.

Ensure Women’s Participation in Decision Making Processes

for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction

46

! Relocation of affected communities must be implemented with

community’s consent and should not be linked to compensation

conditions such as if people do not relocate they will not receive

compensations for lost/damaged houses.

! Women should be consulted in important decisions such as relocation

and closure of camps and temporary shelters. Women should have

ample information and time to move. The burden of packing and

getting organised is the basic responsibility of women and they need

time to plan according to the needs of their families.

! Women’s involvement in decision making in conservative societies

should be facilitated through affirmative action approach to assist

in overcoming resistance from various stakeholders in every level

of decision making.

! Women’s empowerment in conservative societies, such as Indonesia

and Pakistan, requires special process to overcome numerous

obstacles in policy making and legislation, especially removing

Shariah laws restricting women’s movement and conduct.

Thailand

The government did not provide permanent houses to those who

refused to relocate from villages where they used to live before

the tsunami to “safer” areas away from the seashore. The

government claimed the relocation was necessary for ‘safety’

of the people concerned. However, relocation without

community’s consultation and consent is a violation of their rights

to housing and participation and not sustainable. Most of the

affected people earned their living from fishing and related

activities and relocation meant losing their jobs and livelihoods

so they refused to move away from the sea. Forced relocation

was a “second tsunami blow” for these people. For many women

fisherfolk, relocation away from the sea meant a change of

livelihood strategy that they were not prepared for.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

Thailand

47

Pakistan

In the aftermath of the October 2005 earthquake, the most

outrageous government policy was the arbitrary closing of the

tent camps by March 31, 2006, just six month after the disaster.

The earthquake survivors had been forced to come down to the

valleys from the mountainous areas to go through the winter. In

March when it was still cold and raining causing landslides in

the mountains, the camp residents were ordered to evacuate.

Transporters were charging an arm and a leg to get people to

their villages from the tent cities. The army was ordering truck

drivers to take people from the tent villages to their points of

destination. However, truck drivers were dumping people in the

middle of the way, leaving them high and dry on the roadside. In

many cases, there were no roads right up to the village; hence

people had to trek through treacherous mountainous paths, in

freezing rain, carrying not only their tents and belongings but

also the weak and frail members of their family.

Earthquake Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in

Pakistan

48

Consult women about their housing needs and requirements related to the

design of houses:

! type of house, design and size depending on the family size

! houses must have toilets, bathrooms and kitchens

! houses must have water supply and sanitation systems and

electricity

! houses must ensure security, privacy and dignity of women

! the design of houses must take into account lifestyles, livelihoods

and occupations of women.

! Adequate housing must allow access to employment options,

healthcare, schools and other social services. There must not be

excessive financial demands on the household with respect to

transportation.

! Women’s special requests should be taken into consideration in the

allocation of land and housing such as cluster housing for extended

families

! Prevent bias, favouritism and discrimination by officials – at

national, local and village levels – responsible for the allocation of

permanent housing.

Ensure that Reconstruction of Houses Meets Women’s and

Family Needs

49

Aceh (Indonesia),

The delay in housing construction was caused by several factors,

including: (1) The government at the earlier stage showed its

reluctance to start the housing construction in villages allegedly

related to GAM (armed separatist group); and (2) Lack of

coordination between the government and NGOs constructing

houses. In addition, there had been no women’s involvement in

the process since on November 2005 BRR stopped using the

community driven approach to housing construction.

In Lampuuk village, the construction process commenced only

in November 2005 after a long competition process between

several international NGOs was over. In Seubun Ketapang, 80

houses had been built by Mercy Corps. However, the houses were

built on the location of the old residential area that has been

inundated by water since the tsunami. The surface of the land

had sunk after the tsunami. The houses have no kitchen, bathing/

latrine facility and water supply system. Therefore, many

residents, especially women, were reluctant to move to the new

houses from the barracks. The water pockets became mosquito

breeding grounds. Similarly, in Lham Lhom village, new houses

were not equipped with kitchens, bathrooms, and water supply

systems.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

Aceh

50

The house of a Dalit woman rebuilt by DFDL, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India

51

Thailand

The government constructed houses without prior consultation

with the beneficiaries and did not study the livelihood patterns

of the local communities before undertaking the construction.

The outcome is a general dissatisfaction of the people who

believe they deserve better quality of assistance. “The

government provided us with a permanent home built by the

military. Its size is about 6 x 6 metres for a family of 4 people.

It’s very small. The kitchen of my old house was the size of this

entire house. I have requested the government to build an

extension because it is extremely crowded for such a big family

like mine. Nonetheless, we will never know when this will come

through. Many of us here cannot rely on the government anymore.

My children do not have a room to play or any privacy like they

used to. Our lives have changed from white to black,” said Mrs.

Woranuch Chantalor, a widow with three children from Kam

Kem village, Phang Nga province who lost her husband in the

tsunami.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

Thailand

! The Government must prioritise allocation of land to communities

that have to relocate from disaster affected land.

! Create laws and policies that guarantee women’s equal rights to

ownership of land and property allowing them to own and inherit

land from their husbands/fathers.

! Ensure that wives and daughters inherit the land and property in

societies with strong religious or customary laws where property

inheritance rights go to the deceased husband’s brother in case of

absence of a son.

! Ensure that dowry property belonging to women prior to disaster

is maintained.

! Ensure a total rejection of the ‘head of the household’ concept as

it could result in women losing their rights to land they owned prior

to the disaster.

! Recognise the right of spouses to joint ownership of land, house

and property. New policies made in the aftermath of disasters should

break existing patriarchal norms. For instance, land allocated to

replace land lost to disaster, should be registered in joint ownership

of husband and wife, rather than giving full claims only to the (male)

head of the household.

! In dispute situations that tend to occur in post-disaster situations,

the government must respect land, property and housing rights of

women and protect them from violence and eviction.

! People living in rented accommodation prior to disaster must also

be provided with housing.

Enure Women’s Equal Ownership Rights to Land, House

and Property

52

India

Introduction of a buffer zone restricting construction and

reconstruction of buildings within 500 metres from the shoreline

with the well-intended purpose of protecting coastal

communities from future tsunamis meant that some communities

had to relocate. Identifying land for construction of permanent

housing for relocated communities turned out to be a major

problem. The Government was not willing to provide or acquire

alternative land expecting aid agencies to purchase land for

the communities. Most aid agencies did not have funds to

purchase land. Others, such as TATA LEAP, a construction

company, had to buy land from the government and construct

houses at its own expense.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

India

53

Sri Lanka

In the post-tsunami context, most of the land made available

for re-housing was state land. Since state policy in relation to

land ownership is informed by the categorisation of the male as

the ‘head of the household’, the consequence is that women are

clearly discriminated against when State land is allocated for

families. Deprived of legal ownership of the land, women become

vulnerable to eviction from their home; this makes them also

more vulnerable to domestic violence. Lack of title also makes

it impossible for female heads of household to use the land as

collateral with banks.

In the Muslim community in the East there is a customary

practice of bestowing land received by mothers as dowry or

inheritance to daughters. Given the male bias implicit in much of

the post tsunami relocation programmes, there were concerns

that if land alienation was not done sensitively, it would have a

negative impact on the land rights that girls and women have

traditionally enjoyed. Lobbying for policy change that would

ensure joint ownership between spouses in the process of land

allocation has been a critical demand of CATAW and other

women’s groups working with tsunami-affected women.

The government’s policy was to replace a house for a house which

benefited house-owners. Thus, people who had lived in rented

premises were not entitled to any kind of compensation of re-

housing, even though they had lost all their possessions and been

displaced. In the case of extended families who had lived in one

large family home, only the chief householder was registered as

entitled to a replacement house. Thus, even during the time of

the interviews, almost 14 to 16 months after the tsunami, families

were living in transitional shelters without any guarantee of

permanent housing or even compensation.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

Sri Lanka

54

Aceh (Indonesia)

The tsunami brought up the issue of women’s ownership rights

to land. According to Islamic inheritance laws and Acehnese

tradition, land is transferred from a man to his son or to his

brother. A woman can only have land certificate under her name,

if she does not have a son and her husband does not have

brothers. After marriage, a woman’s land certificate can no

longer be under her name, it is changed to her husband’s.

Acehnese women generally follow the very strict Acehnese

tradition based on the Islamic male inheritance laws. Opposing

the tradition can be considered as opposing the family, Islam,

custom and even God’s will.

In post-tsunami reconstruction, Islamic inheritance laws are

clearly preventing women who lost husbands from registering

as potential beneficiaries of housing assistance. The village

government made a list of tsunami survivors, who needed houses

and registered a man’s name as the landowner. The land

previously registered to the man’s name cannot be automatically

changed into woman’s name. As a consequence, widows had to

constantly go back and forth to the land administration in order

to get land.

In Lampuuk village with over 90% of its 6,500 population killed

in the tsunami, there were many land disputes with claims by

family members of victims living outside of Lampuuk, making

widows vulnerable to eviction and poverty. Many family members

of the dead victims consider that inheritance of land does not

automatically fall into the hands of women but should be

transferred to the family of their deceased husbands. Widows,

therefore can no longer manage agricultural land around the

village because the land has been claimed by many other

interested parties.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

Aceh

55

Thailand

Entire communities were unable to return home after the tsunami

because of pre-tsunami land disputes. Out of 418 villages

affected by the tsunami, 81 had insecure land ownership rights.

The claimants took advantage of the disaster situation, when

people had to flee their houses, and tried to prevent them from

returning to their homes. One of the most violent takeovers took

place in Lam Pom Community, Phang Nga province, a seaside

settlement of ex-labourers in the tin mine. When the mining

concession ended, they established their own community, which

villagers have called home for more than 40 years. From living in

thatched-roof huts with no roads and electricity, they developed

their homes and community and had their houses registered with

the province administration in 1990. The land dispute started in

2001 when a powerful businessman presented the villagers with

a land ownership document and ordered them to leave. The

community refused to do so. One day after the tsunami struck,

his company made claim to the land by sealing off the area using

a group of hired armed men. “We could not get into the area to

look for the bodies of our missing family members. Electricity

and water were cut off. In February, we managed to come back.

Someone from the company came to take our photos. We heard

gunshots that night. I begged them in tears to let me in so I

could find my daughter and my relatives. They threatened: ‘if

the tsunami did not take your life we will take it,” said Ratri

Kongwatami, a 32 year old woman who has been in the forefront

of the community’s struggle.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

Thailand

56

In post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction, employment and income

generation assistance for women must facilitate their food security,

women’s access to natural resources and poverty alleviation at the

community level.

Reconstruction programmes must have a special focus on women’s economic

empowerment and offer them income generating opportunities. In disaster

situations, women who lost their husbands/breadwinners face difficulties

accessing income generating assistance because the existing opportunities

normally target men.

! Provide small grants for women to help restore income generating

activities they were involved before the disaster: food processing,

cooking food for sale, sewing, lace and rope making etc.

! Give women easy access to working capital, materials and resources

for income generating activities, technical and marketing assistance.

! Offer training in new skills for women aimed at facilitating their

access to new areas of income earning activity.

! Facilitate women’s access to bank loans for small business

development.

! Banks and other finance, trading and business institutions should

be supported and encouraged to create special structures for

providing financial aid and investment advice to small and medium

women entrepreneurs in the disaster-affected areas.

! Support to employment generation must be monitored and evaluated

to make sure that access to loans and credit do not lead to

increased indebtedness and overexploitation of natural resource

towards commercialisation.

! Banks and other lending institutions must grant loan repayment

holidays to persons who obtained loans prior to the disaster.

Ensure Women’s Equal Access to Livelihood Opportunities

57

! Governments must provide livelihood alternatives to relocated

communities. Ensure that in relocated areas communities have access

to employment options, healthcare, schools and other social services.

! Women should have complete control of their livestock in camps

and temporary shelters so that they can access milk from their

dairy cows.

Sri Lanka

Restoration of livelihoods constitutes a large segment of the

post-tsunami reconstruction programmes. Much of the focus

has been on support for large-scale economic development

programmes, often oriented towards men on the basis that they

are the head of the household and the primary breadwinner.

Thus, there was widespread distribution of motorised fishing

boats, nets and other fishing equipment, reconstruction of big

public markets. The Sri Lanka Donor Forum, for example, called

for investment in housing, transportation, infrastructure and

livelihood restoration for fishermen, small farmers and small

and micro enterprises, with almost no reference to gender based

livelihood needs and the specificity of women’s work in the

informal sector. The small scale but essential activities that

women traditionally engaged in, such as processing fish, making

and selling foodstuffs, lace-making, making rope, mats and other

household items from coconut husk fibre have been largely

ignored even though they constituted a critical part of the

family economy.

In addition, women were still held responsible for repayment of

loans obtained from banks prior to the tsunami, even though

their means of livelihood had been clearly destroyed and they

were not generating any income. Banks and other lending

institutions insisted that they keep up with their repayment

schedules. Several of the women in Galle and Hambantota had

obtained loans from Fisheries Cooperatives or from the Samurdhi

Bank (State-sponsored Poverty Alleviation programme) and

were under great pressure due to the repayment dilemma.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in Sri

Lanka

58

Aceh (Indonesia)

Gender blind disaster management prevented women from

receiving adequate assistance from the government and NGOs.

Even organisations under the United Nations, such as Food and

Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and various other international

organisations, were weak in their assessments of women’s needs.

The assistance was male-biased and some support, such as

business capital assistance for poultry or fishing, even

strengthened patriarchy and discrimination against women.

Poultry assistance, in fact, targeted mainly men, rather than

supporting women headed households struggling to survive.

Excluding women from assistance programmes increased their

multiple burdens because they were forced to look for work

outside their village/houses and look after their children, elderly

and sick as well as manage household chores. Families’ food

security worsened gradually as the high level of inflation after

the tsunami increased the main commodities prices up to 40%.

Public transport operators even had to stop their business.

By 2005, women in the Lham Lhom village were generally

incapable of restoring their economic activities due to the lack

of business capital. The government and some NGOs provided

grant for equipment and capital to men. Women were

disregarded and did not receive any direct aid or working

capital. Some organisations provided sewing machines or working

capital to help women resume their pre-tsunami work. However,

the assistance could not help much as they have lost access to

markets.

Two months following the tsunami, some women managed to set

up food shops at their homes. However, such activities were

prohibited by the village authority under the pretext that all

commercial activities should be carried out in market places to

ensure rehabilitation of village markets. However, the actual

reasons behind the prohibitions are that the local authority has

a vested interest in collecting taxes from the traders. Secondly,

husbands disapprove of their wives working outside home instead

of attending to their husbands.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

Aceh

59

Pakistan

Some camps had specific space allocated for livestock which

the earthquake affected people had brought with them. In two

of these camps, it was observed that although community

members were looking after their livestock, they did not have

control over the milk from them. Army personnel would allow

them to access milk once in maybe two or three days. Milk was

such a needed food item, especially for women with young

children, but even then they were not allowed access to milk

which was from their own livestock.

Earthquake Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights

in Pakistan

60

Women’s groups should use post disaster reconstruction processes to break

the old patriarchal norms and educate women about their human rights:

from right to have national identity cards, separate bank accounts to land

and property rights.

! Support human rights awareness education programmes for women

within the camps and in their homes if it is not possible to meet

elsewhere convenient to women

! Provide women with necessary skills to face new challenges as heads

of households due to male family members death, disappearance or

incapacitation.

! Provide male family members with the necessary skills to take on

new responsibilities of child care due to the death, disappearance

or incapacitation of female family members

! Support young female orphans with advice on looking after

themselves due to death of parents or adult family members.

! Awareness programmes must emphasise that forced marriage of

girls under the age of eighteen is illegal and attracts penalties.

! Support ongoing gender awareness programmes for camp officials

and security personnel.

Raising Women’s Awareness of their Human Rights

61

Mobilisation and empowerment of disaster affected women is important

for protection of their rights, especially in conservative patriarchal

cultures with women’s seclusion norms. In Aceh and Pakistan, religious

leaders further marginalised women by blaming them for invoking disasters

with their ‘immoral’ behaviour. Furthermore, in Aceh, they enforced stricter

Islamic laws with shariah police beating women for failure to wear a

headscarf. As a consequence, women are intimidated even to come out of

their houses, let alone, voice their needs and concerns.

Ensure that:

! Women’s organisations set up coalitions/alliances to advocate for

human rights of women in disaster situations

! Women affected by disaster are organised among themselves to

advocate for their rights and support each other.

! Advocate for removing laws restricting women’s movement and

conduct.

Mobilise and Empower Women to Advocate for their

Human Rights

62

Sri Lanka

As a response to the tsunami and to the needs of women

survivors, Sri Lankan women’s groups came together to set up

the Coalition for Assisting Tsunami Affected Women (CATAW).

Providing direct assistance to build the capacity of locally based

women’s organisations to deal with the day to day issues of

tsunami recovery and rehabilitation efforts, CATAW acted as

an advocacy centre to ensure that women’s concerns are met

and women are included in decision-making positions and

processes at the local, regional and national level. Key issues

were those of protection for women and girls affected by the

Tsunami and to lobby for a gender responsive rights-based

approach to post Tsunami assistance.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in Sri

Lanka

Aceh (Indonesia)

After visits and relaxed discussions, the main researchers

encouraged a number of women to make three to four “small

groups” (often called “cell”). The discussions started from these

small groups and then followed with sessions. At the next stage,

a focus group discussion was created by involving various cells

and discussed issues that had been discussed in the cells. The

Focus Group Discussions were not only for identifying issues

based on common experiences but also as a means to learn and

build awareness together. It also provided a platform to build a

consensus for future common actions. The Focus Group

Discussions were followed with small group discussion for in-

depth understanding on specific issues. It continued with

several group discussions until they understood the problems

faced, roots of the problems, their impact to women and society,

and the important factors that affect problems faced.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Rights Violations in Aceh

63

States have an obligation to promote, respect and fulfil fundamental human

rights of people affected by disasters irrespective of gender, race, caste,

class, ethnicity, citizenship, religion, migration and registration status and

other factors.

Ensure that:

! Disaster relief is based on a humanitarian and human rights

approach.

! Government and aid agencies engage in relief operations and

reconstruction activities without discrimination based on gender,

class, ethnicity, religion, age and other factors.

! Government and relief organisations make a special effort to reach

out to marginalised groups such as migrants, Dalits, ethnic and

religious minorities, sex workers, workers in the informal economic

sector (small fisherfolk) to ensure they have access to basic needs

as food, water, shelter and health services.

! Women should be mobilised to advocate for policies that secure

the rights of vulnerable groups of women such as migrant workers,

Dalit women, stateless persons, women belonging to different

ethnic groups, sea gypsies, women in service sectors etc

Protect Vulnerable and Marginalised Groups

64

! Ensure that in disasters, migrant workers are not discriminated

against, whether they are documented or undocumented workers

and have access to relief assistance: food, shelter and health

services.

! Governments must not arrest and deport migrant workers during

disasters.

! Governments must protect migrant workers’ rights by reviewing

the existing laws and registration processes to ensure that migrant

workers have access to registration and legal status.

! Governments must take measures to protect women migrant workers

from exploitation and violence at home and at work.

Protect Migrant Workers

65

Thailand

The tsunami exposed the plight of migrant workers in Thailand,

mostly from neighbouring Burma. In the immediate after of the

tsunami, they had to hide in the forest for fear of arrest as

their identity cards and registration documents had been

washed away by the tsunami. They could not even come out to

recover dead bodies of their family members. Since they had

lost ID and registration documents they were denied access to

government assistance and health services.

After the tsunami, the migrant workers, especially those

employed in the commercial fishing industry and service sector,

including the entertainment sectors, were affected badly.

There was no accurate data on how many had died. For those

who survived, they faced loss of employment, and loss of legal

documents such as identification cards and other proof of

registration. As there is no baseline data available on the

population of migrant workers, it was difficult to confirm the

number of deaths.

Human rights violations and violence against migrant workers

were rampant in Thailand before the tsunami. Migrants were

abused by Thai government officials, local communities and

employers, including delayed payment of wages, denial of

compensation for overtime work, underpayment, a lack of life

insurance, rape, robbery, assault and etc. Women are more

subject to abuse. They are at risk from sexual harassment and

sexual assault at workplace, at home, and in the community.

Especially, women working on rubber plantations face sexual

abuse by both Thai and Burmese men. Undocumented migrant

women normally do not report abuse to the police for fear of

arrest and deportation. When they do report to the police, no

legal action is taken by the police because they are illegal

workers. In some cases, the woman is forced to marry her

assaulter. In cases, where Thai men raped Burmese women, they

have a very big chance to escape and never held accountable

for their crimes

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in

Thailand

66

Special efforts must be made to reach out to widows, women headed

households, disabled and the elderly. In some cultures, widows face

ostracism and abuse and can be left out of general assistance efforts.

Ensure that:

! Disabled, the elderly and women headed households in cultures

where women’s seclusion is practiced, have access to aid supplies.

! Housing, land and property rights of widows (widowed pre

disaster and due to disaster) and women headed households are

protected.

! In camps and temporary shelters, toilets and bathrooms have

relevant facilities for use by people with disabilities

! If camps do not have facilities for disabled people, they should

be provided shelter in existing specialised facilities for people

with disabilities.

! Aids such as walking sticks, hearing aids, spectacles, should be

provided as soon as possible.

Reach out to Widows and Women Headed Households,

Disabled and Elderly

67

68

Sri Lanka

Women faced a range of issues because of their single status:

getting recognition from the state in terms of the benefits such

as land allocation, housing allocation and so on, was not

straightforward because of the systematic assumption of male

as head of household. The social and cultural stigma attached

to widowhood was also cited by many women as being an

impediment to their ability to be self-reliant. Several women in

both the east and the south said that they were blamed for the

death of their husbands, and that they were told that it was

their ‘bad luck’ that led to the untimely death of their husband.

In several cases, women who had been living in joint family

situations prior to the tsunami had to battle their husband’s

family for their due after the husband was killed in the tsunami.

In the east, one woman said that she had been cast out of both

her family and the family of her husband after he was killed in

a politically motivated shooting 3 months after the tsunami.

Looking at the cases in which women complained of sexual

harassment, abuse and assault, it was single women who were

most vulnerable.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in Sri

Lanka

Pakistan

One of the interviewed women, who had lost her husband, four

daughters, two sons and two grandchildren, had severe injuries

to her legs and was unable to walk. . Right after the earthquake,

she had been carried by her brother who was on foot himself.

After reaching a more populated area, an army officer had given

them Rs 300 to get a taxi to the hospital. Later she received Rs

25,000 (USD 420) as government compensation for her injuries.

Apart from this monetary assistance, there was no help to

provide her with a more comfortable place to stay in keeping

with her medical needs, nor was transportation assistance

provided to visit various hospitals. She was moved from the

hospital to the tent camp carried on a bed (charpai). It had

been raining in the past few days, and the tent camp had been a

quagmire of mud and slippery, sliding pathways, an absolute

death trap even for the able-bodied. It was clearly a gross

violation of the woman’s right to health care and safety.

However, her transportation to such a highly dangerous site at

that particular point in time was just one of the many abuses

she had suffered since the earthquake. For the past six months

she had been shifted from one hospital to another. In between,

she had been staying with her brother in one of the camps. It

needs to be pointed out that using squat toilets in the camp

must have been a torture for a woman with a leg injury.

Earthquake Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights

in Pakistan

69

In some cultures, caste discrimination is still strong and may prevent relief

assistance reaching low caste communities.

! Government and aid agencies should ensure that relief and

reconstruction activities are implemented without discrimination

based on caste, class, ethnicity, religion, and other factors.

! Government and aid agencies should ensure low caste people have

equal access to relief supplies – food, water, health services,

compensation benefits and housing.

India

Dalits, or so called untouchables, are denied their basic human

rights and face the most terrible forms of deprivation and abuse

under normal circumstances. The problems of caste

discrimination have added to the misery caused by the tsunami.

Entire communities of Dalits were left out of government’s and

aid agencies’ relief assistance for several weeks and suffered

from severe hunger and thirst. Indian authorities discriminated

in providing financial assistance to the families of deceased

Dalits. Dalit areas have been the last to have electricity and

water supplies restored during rehabilitation efforts.

At Muttukaddu relief camp; an Irula (low caste tribal group)

was beaten up by fisher folk for demanding milk at a centre set

up by an NGO. The relief materials designated Irulas and Dalits

were diverted.

Women could not go near water pumps to get water as fisher

folk scorned at them and drove them away.

Dalits’ temporary shelters had no toilets and looked more like

cattle sheds than human dwellings.

Women’s Human Rights Concerns in Tsunami Affected

Countries, APWLD

Reach out to Low Caste People

70

! Government and aid agencies should ensure that relief and

reconstruction activities are implemented without discrimination

based on citizenship.

! Governments must grant citizenship to stateless people so that they

can be protected and have access to relief assistance: food, water,

shelter, health services, compensation and other support during

disasters.

Ensure Stateless People’s Access to Relief Support

Thailand

In the tsunami affected areas, stateless communities are found

in Ranong province. They were made ‘stateless’ as a result of the

national border demarcation imposed by the British between

Thailand and Burma, a British colony between 1824 and 1948.

These people lived along the border of the two countries, normally

in the hills or jungles, and were left out of the government surveys.

This resulted in unclear nationality status. These people look like

Thai and speak the Thai language. However, they have no birth

certificates, no registration documents or IDs, no usual practice

of death reports and no right to vote in the elections. Hence,

they are not protected by the Thai laws, have no labour and

property rights and no access to education. They are, therefore,

practically non-existent in Thailand. There is no record of how

many stateless people died during the tsunami.

“We the Moken in Tap Tawan village, never got any help from the

government. When they came to distribute aid in the tent camp,

we always waited for our names to be called. But we waited in

vain. We even had identification cards but we were never

included. I don’t understand why. Our names were never on the

list because we do not have Thai citizenship. During the first

few days we stayed in a tent but they didn’t give me temporary

home so I went to stay in the mountains”, said Lai, a sea gypsy,

tsunami survivor in Thailand.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in Thailand

71

Women – victims of disasters in armed conflict situations are most

vulnerable to deprivation, violence and abuse by conflicting groups. Efforts

must be made to provide assistance and protection.

Governments and international aid agencies, especially UN, must prioritise

reaching peace agreements between the conflicting parties, including:

! End all military actions in disaster zone

! Let humanitarian aid agencies into disaster zones

! Ensure free movement of people and distribution of relief

! Do not prevent people from accessing livelihoods sources to ensure

food security: sea, forests, agricultural land.

! Do not station military personnel in IDP camps “for security reasons”

if they are one of the conflicting parties. In Sri Lanka, government

military presence in camps caused deaths of civilians when Tamil

Tigers launched attacks on the government forces.

Protect Women – Victims of Disasters and Armed Conflict

Situations

72

Aceh (Indonesia)

Lampuuk Village was reached by emergency assistance three days

after the tsunami. The area is relatively easily reachable because

its location is at the edge of the coast, while Seubun Ketapang

and Lham Lhom villages, situated at the foothill, were reached

only on day six. The delay in evacuation and relief assistance was

caused not only by the debris, wood and sprawling bodies but

also by TNI (Indonesian military). The three villages had been

terrorised by TNI troops hunting after GAM members suspected

to have come down from the hills to save their families. In the

chaos of looking for missing family members and food shortage

that followed the tsunami, the villagers were checked one by

one to ensure that they were not GAM members. Women and men

in Seubun Ketapang village were asked to make a line and

questioned whether they were GAM members and about the

location of their GAM family members. This made many volunteers

and aid organisations providing relief supplies reluctant to work

in Seubun Ketapang, Lham Lhom or Lampuuk because they did

not want to have problems with the military. Moreover, the army

used the momentum to search for weapons in the areas around

the villages to replace those lost when the ammunition warehouse

at the TNI Company base in Lhok Nga was destroyed by the

tsunami.

After the tsunami, the military unofficially declared particular

regions as ‘black, red and grey’ zones. Black indicated areas of

armed conflict between the military and GAM; red – areas of

possible location of GAM forces; and grey zone was an area

relatively free from GAM. People were restricted to go to black

zones. Women of the Lampuuk village used to pick wild fruits,

vegetables and herbs in the nearby hills declared ‘black zone’

after the tsunami. On March 7, a few villagers were shot dead at

the foothill as suspected GAM fighters. The communities, who

lost their livelihood sources from the sea, were now denied access

to the forest – another livelihood source.

Most of the residential area and agricultural land were inundated

by water and mud resulting in a loss of food supplies either in

their farms or houses. The only hope was government or non-

governmental organisation’s assistance. The assistance finally got

through to the villages after 4-5 days.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in Aceh

73

Sri Lanka

The tsunami was most severely felt by the eastern coast of the

island, which is also the area which had already been devastated

by the armed conflict for at least fifteen years prior to the

tsunami. Thus, communities that had faced all forms of violence,

severe human rights abuses, impoverishment, loss of livelihood

and displacement in a systematic manner due to the conflict were

once more subjected to deprivation and to the destruction of

their communities, their lives and their livelihoods because of the

tsunami. In fact, some of them referred to this as the ‘second

tsunami’ while the conflict had been the first. The waves

destroyed an already weak infrastructure, and impoverished

already very poor communities. It created more widows in

communities that already had a majority of female-headed

households; it created more orphans in communities that already

had abnormal numbers of parentless children.

Tsunami Aftermath: Women’s Human Rights Violations in Sri

Lanka

74

Global Response

! An international women’s disaster response agency needs to be

created which would reach out to disaster hit areas and provide

advisory assistance for gender sensitive disaster management

to governments of the affected country and aid agencies

involved in relief and rehabilitation activities.

! Gender sensitive disaster management manuals need to be

translated into various languages and distributed to

governments.

! Officials of governments and aid agencies, including UN

officials, need to undergo gender sensitive disaster management

training.

! Gender sensitive disaster management policies should be

mainstreamed into international government and non-

government agencies involved in disaster management.

National Response

! In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, ‘gender focal

committees involving various stakeholders – government, aid

agencies, international and local NGOs – should be set up to

ensure women’s needs are met and women’s human rights are

protected.

! Collect gender disaggregated data as soon as possible after

the disaster so that necessary data is available in an accessible

and user friendly format. Gender disaggregated data is essential

to enable governments and aid agencies to formulate gender-

sensitive relief and reconstruction programmes and plans.

! Provide legal support to women in processing documentation such

as death certificates, land and other ownership disputes.

General Recommendations for Gender Sensitive Disaster

Management

75

References

76

Caught in the Storm: The Impact of Natural Disasters on Women, The

Global Fund for Women.

Gender Sensitive Guidelines on Implementing the Tsunami Housing Policy,

Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) Sri Lanka

Human Rights in the Post Tsunami Context, INFORM, Sri Lanka. Caught in

the Storm: The Impact of Natural Disasters on Women, The Global Fund

for Women

Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response,

Sphere Project, 2004

Earthquake Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in Pakistan,

Roots for Equity, 2006.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Dalit Women’s Human Rights in India,

Society for Rural Education and Development, 2006

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in Nanggroe Aceh

Darussalam, Solidaritas Perempuan, Indonesia, 2006.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in Sri Lanka,

INFORM, 2006.

Tsunami Aftermath: Violations of Women’s Human Rights in Thailand,

Sustainable Development Foundation, 2006.

Women’s Human Rights Concerns in Tsunami Affected Countries, March

2005, APWLD Report

Women and Media Collective Report, 2005, Sri Lanka

76

“The Guidelines for Gender Sensitive Disaster Management were initiated

at the Asian Women’s Consultation on Post Tsunami Challenges, which

convened 60 women activists and tsunami survivors from India, Indonesia,

Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand in Aceh, July, 2005.

APWLD is an independen

6

77

APWLD is an independent, non-government, non-profit

organisation committed to enabling women to use law as

an instrument of change to achieve equality, justice, peace

and development

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)

189/3 Changklan Road

Amphoe Muang

Chiang Mai 50101

Thailand

Tel: (66) 53 284527, 284856

Fax: (66) 53 280847

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.apwld.org

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ASSISTING AND EMPOWERING WOMEN FACING NATURAL DISASTERS: DRAWING FROM SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325

PAYAL K. SHAH*

In the wake of the tsunami that hit the coastal communities of the Indian Ocean, images of women were splashed over the media's reports of the catastrophe. But while sympathy for women has garnered a great deal of aid, "[b]eyond the camera lens in the follow-up policies.., there is a trend for women to be rendered almost invisible."' Reports by women's groups streaming in from all over the region reflect the same message-women were among the hardest hit by the tsunami, and women continue to be the most marginalized in relief efforts.2

While the relative lack of women-specific initiatives in the tsunami effort arguably could be attributed to the cultural norms of the region and the particular nature of the disaster there, a broader look at disasters worldwide shows that women's needs and abilities are systemically ignored in rehabilitation and restoration efforts.3 Although this trend has been

* Candidate for J.D., Columbia Law School, 2006; B.A., Swarthmore College. This Article is written in dedication to the victims and survivors of the Asian tsunami. The author is grateful to Professor Katherine Franke for her ideas and support in the development of this Article. She also thanks her parents, Kiran and Shobhana Shah, and her siblings, Sural and Sujal Shah, for their endless encouragement throughout college and law school.

Rochelle Jones, Gender and Natural Disasters: Why We Should Be Focusing on a Gender Perspective of the Tsunami Disaster (Jan. 27, 2005), http://www.awid.org/go. php?stid = 1427.

2 See, e.g., id.; Press Release, Sri Lanka Women's NGO Forum et al., Women's Groups Appeal for an Inclusive Framework for Disaster Response (Jan. 1, 2005), available at http://tsunamihelpsrilanka.blogspot.com/2005/01/press-release-womens-groups-appeal- for.html.

3 See generally Elaine Enarson, Chapter 2: Gender Issues in Natural Disasters: Talking Points on Research Needs, in WORKING PAPER 7: SELECTED ISSUES PAPERS: CRISES, WOMEN, AND OTHER GENDER CONCERNS 4-10 (2002), available at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/recon/crisis/download/wp7.pdf [hereinafter Enarson, Gender Issues].

712 Columbia Journal of Gender and Law [Vol. 15:3

recognized by international organizations ranging from the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly, 4 the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), ' the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee), 6 the U.N. Office for International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR),7 the International Labor Organization (ILO), 8

4 G.A. Res. 58/214, U.N. Doc. A/RES/58/214 (Feb. 27, 2004) (The resolution "[a]lso recognizes the importance of integrating a gender perspective as well as of engaging women in the design and implementation of all phases of disaster management, particularly in the disaster reduction stage …. ").

5 For a statement of UNFPA's commitment to women-specific relief efforts, see Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Exec. Dir., UNFPA, Statement at the Tsunami Ministerial-Level Donors' Meeting (Jan. 11, 2005), http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=544&Language =1:

UNFPA, as part of a coordinated United Nations response, is committed to keeping survivors of the tsunami alive and supporting their efforts to recover. We are especially focused on making sure that women get the targeted support they need and that gender concerns are factored into the design and delivery of humanitarian efforts. At times like this, women are the pillars of relief because they are often the ones who care for children, the sick and injured, the elderly and other survivors.

Id.

6 For the CEDAW Committee's statement on the need to integrate women into relief efforts, see Comm'n on the Status of Women, Comm. on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Statement by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in regard to the tsunami disaster that occurred in South-East Asia on 26 December 2004, Annex II 2, U.N. Doc E/CN.6/2005/CRP. 1 (Feb. 8, 2005) [hereinafter CEDAW Comm.]:

In the wake of the Tsunami, the gender-specific needs and vulnerabilities of women and girls must be identified and addressed in all responses to the humanitarian and recovery needs. There are gender perspectives to be taken into account in relation to impacts on both a long- and short-term basis, including in relation to health, security and livelihoods.

Id.

7 For a statement of the ISDR's commitment to women-specific relief efforts, see Salvano Briceno, Director, Secretariat of the Int'l Strategy for Disaster Reduction, 46th Sess. of the Comm'n on the Status of Women, Mar. 4-15, 2002, Panel II: Environmental Management and Mitigation of Natural Disasters: A Gender Perspective 7, available at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw46/panel-briceno.pdf:

Although women's social, economic and political position in many societies makes them more vulnerable to natural hazards, they are not helpless victims. Women are important agents for change and need to be further strengthened as such. Recognising and mobilising their skills and capacities as social force and channelling it to enhance efforts to protect their

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and the European Union (EU), 9 there is yet to be a binding global initiative that explicitly calls for gender-mainstreaming in disaster prevention and reconstruction efforts. As a result, when the time comes for nations to respond quickly and efficiently to disasters, the lessons learned in gender- sensitivity are lost in the tumult once again.

While gender issues are sidelined in disaster contexts, however, this is not the case in other crisis situations. In 2000, the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1325 (1325), which "stress[es] the importance of [women's] equal participation and full involvement in all

safety and that of their communities and dependants is a major task in any disaster reduction strategy.

Id.

8 For the ILO's statement on women's role in relief efforts, see Press Release, International Labor Organization, International Women's Day Focuses on Women in Disasters (Mar. 7, 2005) [hereinafter ILO], available at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/ region/asro/bangkok/public/releases/yr2005/pr05_04.htm:

ILO research shows that disasters tend to sharpen existing equalities …. Yet, given the chance women have a crucial 'role to play in post-tsunami rebuilding. They can drive recovery, not just of physical infrastructure but of families and communities. So, for tsunami recovery programmes to be really effective they must acknowledge the particular needs of women and build on their strengths.

Id.

9 For a statement of the European Union's recognition of, and commitment to addressing, women's specific needs in post-disaster situations, see European Union Ministers, Ministerial Declaration of the Conference of Ministers of Gender Equality, 1, delivered to Ministerial Meeting on Beijing + 10 (Feb. 2, 2005), available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment-socia/events/2005/beijing_lux/ministerial-declarati onfinal en.pdf:

We, the Ministers of the 25 EU Member States responsible for gender equality policy participating in the European Ministerial Conference …. [a]gree to …. [e]nsure that the needs of women in post-disaster relief and reconstruction situations are properly understood and are addressed in programmes, promote the role of men and women in post-disaster and reconstruction, including in decision making; [e]nsure women's equal access to information on disaster reduction by means of formal and non-formal education, including through gender sensitive early warning systems and empower women to take related action in timely and appropriate manner.

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efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security"10 and "[r]ecogniz[es] the urgent need to mainstream a gender perspective into peacekeeping operation."" The resolution calls for increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in conflict prevention, management, and resolution; attention to the specific protection of the needs of women in conflict, including refugees; increased support for women peace-builders; refusal to allow impunity for crimes against women, including gender-based violence; and combination of a gender perspective in U.N. operations, post- conflict processes, and Reporting and Security Council Missions.' 2 Through the resolution, women must be integrated in reconstruction efforts, and local women's initiatives in maintaining peace and security must be supported by the U.N. and government officials.' 3 Some aid groups have drawn on 1325 in their calls for a gendered perspective in disaster relief post-tsunami, but explicit support for this connection has not yet been articulated.

This Article draws a connection between the interests protected by 1325 and those that would be protected by a similarly binding resolution for women in disaster situations, and argues for the realization of such an international agreement. Part II of this Article urges women's rights activists to acknowledge the capacity and the desirability of a binding Security Council resolution for gender-mainstreaming and female participation in disaster prevention and aid work. Further, this section argues for the recognition of disasters as a "threat to the peace" that can be reduced through the symbolic and legal powers of a Security Council resolution. Part III then establishes why the Security Council itself should seek such a resolution, based on the centrality of disaster relief in ensuring the success of core Security Council goals, such as resolving conflict and fostering sustainable development. Part V shows how gender- mainstreaming in natural disasters would further the goals of the Security Council; indeed, failing to pursue gender-mainstreaming would actually undermine the Security Council's objectives, particularly those relating to 1325. Examining the effects of the Asian tsunami on Aceh, Indonesia, this section argues that implementing disaster prevention and disaster aid efforts without considering gender would be contrary to both the purposes of 1325 and the watershed of support for gender-mainstreaming by international

'0 S.C. Res. 1325, 5, U.N. Doc. S/RES/1325 (Oct. 31, 2000).

Id. 8.

2 d. 11.

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organizations in recent years. Part VI concludes by recommending that the Security Council promulgate a binding international resolution on gender- mainstreaming and female decision-making in natural disaster relief efforts.

I. SEEKING A BINDING RESOLUTION

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Commission on the Status of Women's Agreed Conclusions on Environmental Management and the Mitigation of Natural Disasters can be used to show an international consensus on gender-mainstreaming in disaster programming; however, the fact remains that neither are currently binding documents. 14 The CEDAW Committee itself, following the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, made a statement inviting the U.N. to prepare "a comprehensive action-oriented resolution on the gender perspectives of disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, following the example of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace, and security."'15 As the subsections B and C below will discuss, such a binding resolution would provide legal leverage for women's rights advocates, and would also constitute a symbolic action showing an extraordinarily high level of international consensus that women's needs must be taken seriously in disaster relief.

A. Legal Basis for U.N. Security Council Chapter VII Action

While states and the U.N. administration itself have indicated support for a resolution concerning gender-mainstreaming in disaster situations, the threshold question is whether such a resolution falls within the scope of the Security Council's functions under the U.N. Charter. Under Article 24, the Security Council's "primary responsibility [is] for the maintenance of international peace and security, and [its Members] agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility the Security Council acts on their behalf." 16 These resolutions of the Security Council are binding if enacted under Chapter VII of the Charter. 17 However, Chapter

14 CEDAW Comm., supra note 6; 46th Sess. of the Comm'n on the Status of Women, Mar. 4-15, 2002, Agreed Conclusions on Environmental Management and the Mitigation of Natural Disasters, U.N. Doc. E/2002/27, E/CN.6/2002/1 3 (Mar. 15, 2002).

15 CEDAW Comm., supra note 6, at Annex II 5. 16 U.N. Charter art. 24., para. 1.

17 See PETER MALANCZUK, AKEHURST'S MODERN INTRODUCTION TO

INTERNATIONAL LAW 245, 374, 386 (7th rev. ed. 1997).

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VII leaves the decision of what constitutes a "threat to the peace" up to the Security Council alone.18 As Stefan Talmon argues,

[a]n examination of the Council practice and the common understanding of the United Nations membership in general shows that "threat to the peace" is a constantly evolving concept. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the understanding of what constitutes a "threat to the peace" has broadened considerably from the narrow concept of the absence of the use of armed force, to the wider concept of situations that may lead to the use of armed force.' 9

In its final declaration from a 1992 summit meeting, the Council stated that "[t]he absence of war and military conflicts amongst States does not in itself ensure international peace and security. The non-military sources of instability in the economic, humanitarian, and ecological fields may become a threat to peace and security. '20 As of 1998, however, the Security Council had not exercised any power in promulgating resolutions during natural disasters. 21 By ignoring the opportunity to coordinate initiatives on natural disasters and conflict, the Security Council risks undermining the billions of dollars the U.N. has invested in peace processes in as little time as it takes for natural disaster to strike.

B. The Desirability of a Binding Security Council Resolution

A binding Security Council resolution would be a particularly effective means of ensuring that states comply with their commitment to gender-mainstreaming in disaster situations and fund aid efforts accordingly. 22 First, in natural disaster situations, time is often of the

" U.N. Charter art. 39.

19 Stefan Talmon, The Security Council as World Legislature, 99 AM. J. INT'L L. 175, 180 (2005).

20 Zama Coursen-Neff, Preventive Measures Pertaining To Unconventional Threats To The Peace Such As Natural And Humanitarian Disasters, 30 N.Y.U. J. INT'L L. & POL. 645, 669 (1998).

21 See generally id.

22 MEDICA MONDIALE, GENDER AND NATURAL DISASTERS/SOUTH-EAST ASIA: THE

GENDERED IMPACTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS, AIDE-MEMOIRE TO 61ST SESSION OF THE U.N. COMM'N ON HUMAN RIGHTS, MAR. 14-APR. 27, 2005, available at http://www.glow-

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essence. The relative speed with which the Security Council can act, as well as the binding quality of its decisions, makes its resolutions much more effective than ad hoc diplomatic negotiations of treaties and agreements, which leave advocates with time-consuming challenges, such as confronting hold-out states. 23A binding resolution would allow the Security Council to impose, under U.N. Charter, Chapter VII, Article 41, measures such as sanctions, imposition of travel restrictions on government officials, freezing of funds, severance of diplomatic ties, and interruption of communications by air, rail, sea, post, and radio.24 In addition, since the Cold War ended, the Security Council has shown a marked increase in willingness to impose economic sanctions in situations where its binding directives have been disregarded.25 By contrast, the Security Council's comfort level with invoking Chapter VII measures for violations relating to human rights has developed more slowly; however, a study of the Security Council's action and inaction in situations of human rights violations shows that the Council has grown increasingly willing to use force to address these threats to the peace. 26 The Security Council's unique combination of willingness and capacity to respond to time-sensitive situations makes it an ideal body to handle national crises, such as natural disasters.

Second, even where the Security Council may be unable to impose punitive measures, several scholars have argued that the mere fact that the Security Council has promulgated a binding resolution on a particular issue will significantly increase pressure on and willingness among states to

27comply with that directive. In terms of increasing pressure, Security

boell.de/media/en/txt rubrik_2/AIDEMEMOIRE.pdf (last visited Mar. 25, 2006) (discussing the need for 1325 protections in the area of natural disasters).

23 MALANCZUK, supra note 17, at 374.

24 U.N. Charter art. 41.

25 Robin Geiss, Humanitarian Safeguards in Economic Sanctions Regimes: A Call

for Automatic Suspension Clauses, Periodic Monitoring, and Follow-Up Assessment of Long-Term Effects, 18 HARV. HUM. RTS. J. 167, 167 (2005).

26 See Christopher J. Le Mon & Rachel S. Taylor, Security Council Action in the Name of Human Rights: From Rhodesia to the Congo, 10 U.C. DAVIS J. INT'L L. & POL'Y 197, 227-28 (2004) (contending that human rights abuses and humanitarian emergencies may result in the Security Council authorizing the use of force).

27 See INT'L COMM'N ON INTERVENTION & STATE SOVEREIGNTY, THE

RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT 25 (2001) (stating that "tough threatened direct prevention efforts can be important in eliminating the need to actually resort to coercive measures"); Inger Osterdahl, The Exception as the Rule: Lawmaking on Force and Human Rights by the UN Security Council, 10 J. CONFLICT & SECURITY L. 1, 17 (2005) (noting that "the practice of

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Council resolutions serve as evidence of opinio juris by showing international consensus on a legal norm. 28 Further, as the environmental movement has shown, when an issue is linked to state security, states are significantly more inclined to allocate funds and attention than if the problem is viewed as merely social or moral.29 Thus, even though punitive measures appear unlikely to be implemented in the near future, the Security Council, by invoking its most powerful tool to promulgate a policy, sends a message about both the seriousness of the problem and its confidence in a particular solution.

C. The Example of Resolution 1325

Even if one argues that the enforcement mechanisms of binding Security Council resolutions are not actually persuasive, 30 the experience of 1325 shows the significant impact that the symbolic implications of such displays of international political consensus can have for women. In recent transitional court cases, for instance, the proliferation of Security Council resolutions condemning sexual violence against women has been used to demonstrate that protection of women from rape during conflict has emerged clearly as a non-derogable norm of international law.31 Although

the Security Council may have had an indirect effect on substantive international law on humanitarian intervention because of the content of the resolutions . . .adopted by the Security Council.").

28 David S. Mitchell, The Prohibition of Rape in International Humanitarian Law as a Norm ofJus Cogens: Clarifying the Doctrine, 15 DUKE J. COMP. & INT'L L. 219,235-36 (2005).

29 See Wenche Hauge & Tanja Ellingsen, Causal Pathways to Conflict, in ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICT 36, 37 (Paul F. Diehl & Nils Petter Gleditsch eds., 2001) (arguing that environmental security movement sought to raise the status of and money accorded to environmental threats by linking them to security).

30 See, e.g., Michla Pomerance, Agora: ICJ Advisory Opinion on Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinain Territory: The ICJ's Advisory Jurisdiction and the Crumbling Wall between the Political and the Judicial, 99 AM. J. INT'L L. 26, 39 (2005) (arguing that there is no basis in the U.N. Charter to believe any Security Council resolutions are legally binding).

31 See Mitchell, supra note 28, at 254-55, for a discussion on the collective force of these resolutions:

Lastly, a number of U.N. General Assembly and Security Council Resolutions have strongly condemned sexual violence regarding atrocities in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Japan, Haiti, Myanmar (Burma), and Afghanistan. The collective force of these resolutions responding to violations that have occurred validates the important

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many of these resolutions were not issued under the Security Council's Chapter VII powers, and thus were not binding, the cumulative effect of repeated non-binding condemnations resulted in the political environment that produced Resolution 1325.32 The recent increase in international acknowledgement of the need to integrate women into disaster relief is indicative of a positive political environment for a resolution extending 1325's protections to disaster relief. Such a resolution holds the potential to demonstrate the symbolic consensus necessary for effective legal protections of women's rights in disasters.

The potential impact of such a disaster relief resolution can be seen in the already documented success of 1325. Jessica Neuwirth, founder and current president of the women's rights non-governmental organization (NGO) Equality Now, writes extensively about the role that 1325 played even in the nascent stages of rebuilding in Afghanistan. 33 Many women's rights activists called for the international community to seize the opportunity provided by the "war on terrorism" to empower the women of Afghanistan. 3 These efforts led to an international summit of Afghan women from around the world, which was the springboard for several U.S. Congress members to introduce the Access for Afghan Women's Act.3 5

Neuwirth argues that the success of these activists in empowering women came in large part from an increased awareness of the opportunities presented by reconstruction stemming from dialogue about Resolution 1325.36

normative development of rape as a peremptory norm. . . . [S]uch documents play an important role in providing a general context for international interests as an indicator of consensus on international issues.

Id.

32 See generally id. for the argument that non-binding General Assembly resolutions have collective force. It follows that this collective force resulted in the passage of Resolution 1325.

33 See Jessica Neuwirth, Women and Peace and Security: The Implementation of

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325, 9 DuKE J. GENDER L. & POL'Y 253 (2002). 34 Id. at 254. 35Id. at 258.

36 Id. at 254 (arguing that 1325, by recognizing "the importance of a central role for women in the political process," was integral in shifting "the focus from Afghan women as victims, as they were initially portrayed, to Afghan women as active participants in a post- Taliban political process.").

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Commemoration of 1325 has provided several occasions for the Security Council and NGOs to ratchet up pressure on states to respect the rights of women. For example, on the one-year anniversary of 1325, the Security Council reaffirmed its support, noting the inclusion of women in political decision-making bodies in Burundi, Somalia, and East Timor. 37

During the four-year anniversary, Amnesty International seriously criticized those U.N. member states that failed to fully embrace the protections of 1325, yet cited nascent developments in several countries that addressed issues of sexual violence, impunity for such violence, and peace-keeping- all guarantees under 1325.38 Some of the success stories include UNICEF camps in South Darfur that give girls a safe space to talk about their abuse, and UNICEF training of police officers in Darfur that focused on handling sexual violence.39 In addition, 1325 has given rise to new legislation by the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) addressing domestic violence, identification by the U.N. Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) of the need to implement a regular crime reporting system and improve documentation of sexual violence and other serious violations of human rights in Liberia, and the inclusion of a term calling for the end of sexual violence in the original cease-fire agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).40 These examples show that the existence of the resolution did not just influence the actions of the U.N. and its affiliates; it also provided the rhetorical and political basis from which women's rights advocates could mobilize support for gender-mainstreaming. The experience of 1325 thus reflects the arguments for the potential effects of a binding Security Council resolution in the case of natural disasters. Such a resolution would provide much needed political capital for women's rights activists simply by its promulgation.

37 Press Release, Security Council, Security Council Reaffirms Support for Enhanced Women's Role in Conflict Prevention, Resolution, U.N. Doc. SC/7191 (Oct. 31, 2001).

38 Amnesty Int'l, Fourth Anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325, Al Index: IOR 52/004/2004, Oct. 28, 2004, http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGEURO15204 20042004 [hereinafter Fourth Anniversary of 1325].

39 id.

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II. THE CENTRALITY OF DISASTER RELIEF TO SUCCESSFUL CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT

While the prior section discussed why activists focused on issues of women's welfare and disaster mitigation should seek a binding resolution, the following sections discuss the reasons why the Security Council should be seeking to integrate gender-mainstreaming and women's participation in disaster relief in tandem with their conflict resolution efforts.

A. Disasters, Conflict and Development

L The Rising Impact of Natural Disasters on Developing Countries

Over the past decades, experts have documented the increasing impact of natural disasters on the world's population, with economic losses from natural disasters increasing more than ten times each decade.4 1 From floods in Algeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ethiopia, India, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, and Vietnam, to volcanic eruptions in Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and to earthquakes in Indonesia, India, and Peru, many of the world's most unstable places have been thrown into a state of crisis by natural disasters.42 Salvano Briceno, of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction-the coordinating body for disaster relief in the U.N. system)-stated that "[a]lthough natural hazards may happen anywhere, it is particularly the least developed countries which are most affected due to their higher vulnerability." 43 For example, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report cites that "24 of the 49 least developed countries face a high level of disaster risk; at least 6 of them have been hit by between 2 and 8 major disasters per year in the last 15 years.'"44 Further, as Briceno notes, the figures describing the effect on human development would be higher, perhaps more than

41 Briceno, supra note 7, at 4.

42 id.

43 Id.; see also European Comm'n Humanitarian Aid Dep't, ECHO's Disaster Preparedness Policy, http://europa.eu.int/comnm/echo/field/dipecho/indexen.htm (last visited Feb. 4, 2006) [hereinafter ECHO Policy] ("Developing countries bear the bulk of the burden in terms of lives and livelihoods lost. In economic terms, disasters reduce the output of the poorest nations by around 3%, depriving them of resources needed to escape poverty.").

44 Briceno, supra note 7, at 4.

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double, if we were to take into account the consequences of smaller or unrecorded disasters that cause significant losses at the community level.45

Currently, ninety-seven percent of disaster victims live in 46developing countries. Poor, developing nations are less likely to be able to

finance disaster mitigation and recovery projects, and are more likely to 47have the strength of their economies tied to fragile natural resources. As a

proportion to GDP, disaster losses in developing countries are more substantial, leading to money being taken away from other rehabilitation programs. 48 For instance, Elaine Enarson, of the International Labor Organization's Recovery and Reconstruction Program, cites Hurricane Mitch as being responsible for setting development in Central America back thirty years. 49 Disaster reduction and mitigation is imperative for sustainable development, both to reduce the level of risk in societies and to ensure that development efforts do not increase vulnerability to these hazards. 50 Further, development efforts which do not incorporate disaster planning may compound risks by breaking down existing warning networks and increasing instability. 51 For example, employment plans which encourage male migration away from their villages may prevent adequate warning where women are illiterate and unable to read newspaper reports about impending disasters.

45 id.

46 ECHO Policy, supra note 43.

47 ELAINE ENARSON, ILO WORKING PAPER 1: GENDER AND NATURAL DISASTERS (2000), available at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/recon/crisis/publ/wp l. htm [hereinafter WORKING PAPER 1].

48 ECHO Policy, supra note 43.

49 WORKING PAPER 1, supra note 47, at 3. 50 Briceno, supra note 7, at 3.

51 See generally id. ("Disaster reduction policies and measures aims [sic] enabling societies and communities to be resilient to natural hazards with a two-fold aim: to reduce the level of risk in societies, while ensuring, on the other hand, that development efforts do not increase the vulnerability to these hazards.").

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2. Disasters, Development, and ConflicJ 2

When one considers the factors that have prevented certain countries from achieving "first world" status, the links between disaster, development, and conflict are apparent. As Briceno argues, there is a significant connection between man-made emergencies, such as conflict, and natural disasters, as epitomized by the ongoing drought and political movements in Afghanistan. 53 Further, with such large amounts of aid pouring into regions struck by disaster, the potential for diversion by warring factions is high.54 Lastly, the vulnerability of citizens after disaster creates opportunities for military authorities to ensure that disadvantaged groups stay subjugated.55 During the post-tsunami efforts, organizations in both Indonesia and Sri Lanka raised concerns about this very problem. In Indonesia, for example, military authorities in Aceh asked foreign troops assisting in the relief effort to leave by the end of March 2005 and required the troops to ask for permission to move out of the city centers of Banda, Aceh, and Meulaboh.56 Although the reasons for this restriction were said to be security concerns and the need to coordinate humanitarian efforts, in practice this restriction has perpetuated the isolation of villages on the west coast of Aceh and North Sumatra, which are struggling to obtain food and medical assistance. Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, groups including Human Rights Watch have raised fears about the Tamil Tigers preying on children who are orphaned in their military recruiting efforts. 58 The negative

52 Although this is an area that is gaining increasing coverage in practitioners' literature, there is still an academic gap on this issue. As a result, while the sources cited are quite thorough, the range of sources may appear limited.

53 Briceno, supra note 7, at 4.

54 See generally ASIAN PACIFIC FORUM ON WOMEN, LAW & DEVELOPMENT, WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS IN TSUNAMI AFFECTED COUNTRIES (2005), http://www.apwld.org/tsunami humanrights.htm [hereinafter APWLD] (providing several examples, many discussed in this Article, of situations in which an existing conflict has perpetuated subjugation of minority groups).

55 Id.

56 Id.

57 Id.

58 Human Rights Watch, Sri Lanka: Child Tsunami Victims Recruited by Tamil Tigers, HUMAN RIGHTS NEWS, Jan. 14, 2005, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/14/ slanka10016.htm.

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consequences of such inequitable distribution of relief aid appear particularly problematic in light of the Security Council's charge of "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.,59

This section has argued that the combination of deep-seated conflict and the instability caused by development increases the likelihood that disasters and disaster relief efforts will exacerbate tensions and undermine the peace-building processes initiated by the Security Council. Sustainable development is the long-term goal of all reconstruction and rehabilitation programs.6 ° In achieving this goal, unresolved disaster issues, the inability to improve disaster prevention, and weakened peace-building efforts are certainly problematic. For developing countries, particularly those currently experiencing conflict or recently embarking on post-conflict reconstruction, the success or failure of disaster mitigation programs is central. 61 Development goals aside, disasters have the potential to undermine conflict resolution on their own terms by fostering antagonism, increasing poverty, and exposing vulnerabilities.

II. GENDER AS A DETERMINATIVE FACTOR IN THE SUCCESS OF DISASTER RELIEF AND RESTORATION OF STABILITY

While the success of developing countries in recovering from conflict and attaining sustainable development is dependent in large part on their ability to rebound from disasters, this Article argues that the ability of countries to do so is, in turn, dependent on whether aid efforts can adequately address the needs of women. As the Secretariat of the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction stated, "[g]ender equality was the single most important goal in the disaster reduction field. It was the sine qua non for the achievement of disaster reduction efforts., 62 Elaine Enarson

59 U.N. Charter art. 24, para. 1. 60 Briceno, supra note 7, at 8; see also Zeenat Niazi, Reconstruction and

Rehabilitation: A Response Strategy, http://www.devalt.org/newsletter/may01/lead.htm (last visited Mar. 29, 2006) (discussing ways in which post-disaster strategies can be fashioned to foster long-term sustainable development).

61 International Federation of Red Cross et al., Code of Conduct for NGOs in Disaster Relief, art. 8 http://www.gdrc.org/ngo/codesofconduct/ifrc-codeconduct.html (last visited Mar. 6, 2006) (articulating the necessity for organizations assisting in disaster relief in conflict situations to recognize the significance of their relief work in long term development and reconstruction).

62 Press Release, As Result of Beijing Conference, World Has Recognized Critical Importance of Gender Equality to Peace, Development, Secretary-General Tells Observance,

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describes the relationship as follows: "Far from unmediated 'natural' events arising from human settlement in an inherently uncertain environment, natural disasters are social processes precipitated by environmental events but grounded in social relations and historical development patterns. Gender equality is a significant contributing factor to the social construction of risk."

63

Women are pivotal to disaster reduction efforts in two key ways: first, they make up a disproportionate number of those harmed, and second, they can make key contributions to the risk-management efforts in many parts of the world. Subsection A will address the former point, while subsection B will discuss the latter role for women. Gender issues in disaster contexts do negatively impact men as well (such as the value of "heroism," which may cause men to put themselves at risk in rescue efforts); 64 however, this Article advocates for the 1325 model, which focuses almost exclusively on women. As anecdotes of women's experience in disasters worldwide will show, it is impossible to essentialize women's experiences due to a diverse range of backgrounds and socioeconomic circumstances. 65 This Article focuses primarily on identifying and proposing solutions for the commonalities-rather than the differences-in females' experiences.

A. Women as Disproportionately Harmed in Disaster Situations

1. Harms to Women During the Disaster

Looking at the first key way in which disaster reduction efforts are pivotal to women, the recent tsunami highlights the disproportionate harms women face in disaster situations. According to a recent Oxfam report, in the four villages of the Indonesian Aceh Besar district, only 189 of the 676

66survivors were female. In four villages in Indonesia's North Aceh district,

U.N. Doc. WOM/1498 (Mar. 9, 2005), http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2005/ worn1498.htrnl [hereinafter Beijing Conference Press Release].

63 Enarson, Gender Issues, supra note 3, at 6.

'4Id. at 6-7.

65 OXFAM INTERNATIONAL, OXFAM BRIEFING NOTE: THE TsUNAMI'S IMPACT ON

WOMEN 1 (2005), available at http://www.oxfam.org/eng/pdfs/bn050326_tsunami-women. pdf [hereinafter OXFAM].

66 Id. at 2.

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67females accounted for over three-quarters of the deaths. In Cuddalore, India, almost three times as many women were killed as men.68 Indeed, in one entire village, the only people to die were women.69 Although there is no figure that captures the total global harm to females compared to males from all natural disasters, these statistics are representative of the greater trend of disproportionate harm to women during disasters.7 v

Several reasons account for why women comprise the majority of casualties during disasters. First, women tend to be removed from the early warning systems in place in many communities struck by natural disasters. This phenomenon is illustrated by Cheryl Anderson, of the Social Sciences Research Institute at the University of Hawaii, in her description of the forecasting methods and impacts of climate variability in a Peruvian fishing village.7' Anderson's study showed that the fishermen-all male-had been warned about an incoming El Nifo-Southern Oscillation warm event, which drastically affected the food supply of the village and created poverty, unemployment, and harsh economic conditions.7 2 Meanwhile, women in the village did not receive any warning, since the climate forecasters focused only on warning those who would be "directly" impacted.73 Women in this village managed the budgets of the household and, consequently, were unable to allocate family budgets accordingly.74 Anderson goes on to say that, for sociocultural reasons, the men never discussed the warnings with their wives and continued to "blow their money in bars" rather than saving. 7 Another example comes from South Africa, where warning systems only made climate forecasts available through the radio at specific

67 Id.

68 id.

69 Id.

70 Beijing Conference Press Release, supra note 62 (arguing generally that women are more likely to be harmed in natural disasters and calling for international attention to this phenomenon).

71 Briceno, supra note 7, at 11.

72 Id.

73 id.

74 Id.

751d. at 11-12.

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times each day.76 Since many women were involved in farming on top of their child care and domestic duties, they faced particular difficulty in arranging their schedule such that they could regularly be at home when the reports were set to air. 77 Further, the global increase in women-headed households–due to, among other things, conflict-means that warnings offered only to men will never make it to a large subsection of the population. 78 Lastly, practices such as purdah prevent women from being active in existing male-dominated warning systems. 79 The lack of gender sensitivity makes the difference between life and death, since women often do not have sufficient time to prepare for natural disasters, even after authorities have issued warnings.

Beyond the failure of warning systems, women are also more vulnerable during disasters because of the reduced mobility created by their roles as caretakers of children and the elderly. 80 After the Indian Ocean

76 Inter-agency Secretariat for the Int'l Strategy for Disaster Reduction, Women, Disaster Reduction, and Sustainable Development, Apr. 2003, 5, http://www.unisdr.org/eng/ risk-reduction/gender/Women,%20disaster/ 20reduction%20and%20SD.pdf [hereinafter ISDR, Women, Disaster Reduction].

77 Id.

78 Zenaida G. Delica, Chapter 1: Enhancing Women's Capacity to Manage and Recover from Disasters, in WORKING PAPER 7: SELECTED ISSUES PAPERS: CRISES, WOMEN, AND OTHER GENDER CONCERNS 2 (2002), available at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/ employment/recon/crisis/download/wp7.pdf [hereinafter Delica, Enhancing Women's Capacity].

79 Working Paper 1, supra note 47, at 5. For an explanation of the practice of purdah, see OXFAM INTERNATIONAL, WOMEN AND POVERTY IN NIGERIA 58 (2004), available at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what we do/resources/downloads/wp nigeria/wp nigeria wom enpov.pdf [hereinafter OXFAM, NIGERIA]:

The Islamic custom of purdah-the seclusion of women from the sight of men …. generally applies to married women and girls who have reached puberty, although the practice varies from country to country and region to region. Purdah takes various forms, but in essence it prohibits women from interaction with strangers inside and outside the home. Although evidence suggests that the practice in its most fundamental form has declined, it nonetheless exists and is being reintroduced under Sharia law in various States in the north. The practice deprives women of their rights to freedom of movement and association, and their access to education and other social services; it impedes their contribution to family income and their ability to care for their families; it excludes them from participation in the wider society, thus adding to their poverty.

Id.

80 SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL OF THE AMERICAS, WHITE PAPER: REACHING OUT

TO WOMEN WHEN DISASTER STRIKES 1 (2004), available at http://www.soroptimist.org/sia/A

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tsunami, local media reported that many women were found dead, holding babies in their arms; this suggests that many were killed because they were carrying their children as they attempted to flee.8' Further, women who are pregnant are also placed at a unique disadvantage because they are less likely to possess the energy and strength to escape, and because they have an increased need for food and water for basic survival. 8' This vulnerability can lead to particularly tragic results in developing countries, where there is a higher incidence of pregnancy than in developed countries. 83

Other health factors include the fact that women tend to be encouraged to refrain from intensely physical work and are discouraged from play that would allow them to develop survival skills, such as tree climbing, which was identified as a reason for the high mortality rate of women in the tsunami in Sri Lanka. 84 In addition, sociocultural norms dictate that women often allocate food first to men, then to children, leaving themselves with the least nourishing portions.85 When it comes to fleeing, therefore, women are already at a physical disadvantage.

Culturally, females are rendered vulnerable by practices of son- preference and instilled norms of modesty. In the book From Crisis to Development, Farida Akhter tells the story of a sharecropper in Bangladesh who was trying to save his five daughters and one son from the winds

M/Template.cfm?Section=White Papers&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentlD= 4747 [hereinafter Soroptimist].

81 Suvendrini Kakuchi, In Tsunami, Women Put Modesty Above Survival, WOMEN'S ENEWS, Feb. 23, 2005, http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2195/ context/archive; see also OXFAM, supra note 65, at 2.

82 Soroptimist, supra note 80, at 1-2.

83 See Census Bureau, World Population Profile 1998-Highlights, htp://www.census.gov/ipc/www/wp98001.html (last visited Mar. 6, 2006) (stating that there is a substantial gap in the average number of children born per woman to women in developed countries and women in developing countries); see also UNFPA, Meeting Development Goals: Fast Facts, http://www.unfpa.org/pds/facts.htm (last visited Mar. 6, 2006) (showing that from 2000 to 2005, the worldwide average births per woman was 2.65 children, while the average in the fifty least developed countries was five births per woman).

84 Kakuchi, supra note 81; OXFAM, supra note 65, at 9.

85 Delica, Enhancing Women's Capacity, supra note 78, at 2. Scholars have identified this practice in a range of countries, including India and Bangladesh, and have shown that it has significantly detrimental effects on women's health. See, e.g., INT'L FOOD POL'Y RESEARCH INST., WOMEN: THE KEY TO FOOD SECURITY: LOOKING TO THE HOUSEHOLD 4 (2003), available at http://www.ifpri.org/PUBS/ib/ib3.pdf.

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during a flood.86 As the waters rose, he let go of his daughters to protect his son.87 Concerns of adhering to rules of modesty can also impact females' abilities to survive. Women who observe religious practices of modesty that require them to spend most of their time in the house can have a hard time locating shelter, while women who are concerned about the shame of exposure if clothes are torn or wet will ignore options for survival like climbing trees that may lead to immodestly ripped garments.89

As the above factors demonstrate, there are pre-existing conditions that can determine the magnitude of a natural disaster's harm even before the crisis. Addressing these deep-rooted issues in designing disaster warning systems and emergency plans can be a key factor in diminishing the instability caused by the disaster, as well as the need for development and relief funds post-disaster.

2. Harms to Women After the Disaster

Harms to women are not limited to the deaths suffered by the force of the disaster itself. This section will show that both in the immediate rescue work and the current restoration and rehabilitation efforts, women's lives are held in the balance. Further, relief programs can be undermined by law and policies that prevent women from (re)gaining financial independence. Many of the factors that make women vulnerable during the disasters continue to contribute to women's risk after the fact.

Mortality figures post-disaster are likely to be significantly affected by increased violence against women and by neglect of issues of women's health. From the moment disaster strikes, women face increased vulnerability to violence against them.90 For example, immediately after the

86 Working Paper 1, supra note 47, at 4.

87 Id.

88 For a discussion of the detrimental effects of one such practice, purdah, on the development important skills in women, including the ability to participate in society outside the home, find and hold a job, and seek out networks of support, see generally OXFAM, NIGERIA, supra note 79, at 58. These skills are often necessary for survival post-natural disaster.

89 Kakuchi, supra note 81.

90 Women's Edge Coalition, Women, Natural Disaster, and Reconstruction, http://www.womensedge.org/pages/referencematerials/referencematerial.j sp?id=345 (last visited Mar. 5, 2006) (providing statistics on the increase in violence against women in national disasters in Nicaragua and the Philippines, as well as a 300% increase in sexual assaults following the Loma Prieta earthquake in the United States).

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Indian Ocean tsunami, women who were dragged out of the water were raped as "payment" for being saved. 9' Women on their way to rescue camps may also be waylaid and sexually abused; this happened in the early 1990s after the cyclone in Bangladesh. 92

Once women have entered refugee camps, they face another level of risk. Women who come in without men are particularly vulnerable.93 In Sri Lanka, Medica Mondiale reported women's stories of attempts by adult males, some of whom were officials running the camp, to molest and coerce them.94 Women also reported being sexually assaulted in camp latrines due to inadequate safety precautions. 95 In Indonesia, too, women are being sexually harassed, as well as forced or rushed into marrying much older men. 96 This experience echoes concerns of experts that female children, both inside and outside of refugee camps, who have lost both or one parent in disasters may be forced into child marriage for economic and cultural reasons. 97 Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) have both issued warnings on increased trafficking due to displacement of women and girls. 98

Sexual abuse and exploitation creates a multitude of risks, including sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, adolescent pregnancies, an increase in (often unsafe) abortions, psychological harm, and immediate and serious physical injuries, such as fistulas and vaginal bleeding. 99

91 APWLD, supra note 54.

92 Delica, Enhancing Women's Capacity, supra note 78, at 1-4.

93 Soroptimist, supra note 80, at 2.

94 Medica Mondiale, supra note 22.

95 Report: Tsunami Hit Women Hardest, CNN.COM, Mar. 26, 2005, available at http://individual.utoronto.ca/swee/ 17.pdf.

96 Id.

97 WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, VIOLENCE & DISASTERS 1 (2005), available at http://www.who.int/violenceinjuryjrevention/publications/violence/en/violence disasters. pdf [hereinafter WHO, VIOLENCE & DISASTERS).

98 Id. at 2; see also Division for the Advancement of Women, 2005 News- Tsunami: Policy Guidance on Trafficking in Women and Girls, Feb. 23, 2005, www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/news/news2005/nat-traf.htm.

99 WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, SEXUAL AND GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN EMERGENCIES, http://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/pht/SGBV/en/ (last visited Feb. 25, 2006).

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Of course, not all abuse occurs in the camps or is perpetrated by strangers. Disasters are linked to higher risks of domestic abuse and intimate partner violence. 100 Domestic violence may be exacerbated by strains on families, such as loss of men's livelihood and the affect of death on mental health.'l0 A WHO report on violence and disasters states:

Increases in intimate partner violence levels have been reported in the Philippines after the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, in Nicaragua after Hurricane Mitch, in the USA after the Loma Prieta earthquake and the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens, and in several refugee camps worldwide. Women who were living in a violent relationship before the disaster may experience violence of increasing severity post-disaster, as they may be separated from family, friends and other support systems that previously offered,- . .. 102 them some measure of protection.

Ration policies, such as Sri Lanka's practice of registering ration cards only in the husband's name, may contribute to the increase in partner violence by forcing women to tolerate such abuse. 10 3 Incidents of domestic

100 For a discussion of the connections between domestic abuse and natural disasters, see ELAINE ENARSON, SURVIVING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND DISASTER (1998), available at http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/freda/reports/dviol.htm:

Severe weather events like mud slides or blizzards isolate women at home in unsafe environments without working telephones or accessible roads; contact with courts and crisis counselors may be lost when major disasters disrupt or destroy lifeline services, including law enforcement agencies. Relationship stress factors increase when families struggle to replace lost possessions, housing, jobs, and peace of mind …. For women and children in shelters, mandatory evacuation following an industrial accident or in advance of wildfires is a second-order evacuation, and designated evacuation or relief centres may not protect their privacy or safety.

Id.; see also FRAN H. NoRRIs, DISASTERS AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (2005), http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/facts/disasters/fsdomestic.html, for the argument that, while there is currently a dearth of statistics on domestic violence pre- and post-natural disasters, existing data does support the existence of an increase in domestic violence following disasters, citing, inter alia, a study which reported a forty-six percent increase in police reports of domestic violence after a disaster.

101 Delica, Enhancing Women 's Capacity, supra note 78, at 2.

102 WHO, VIOLENCE & DISASTERS, supra note 97, at 1.

103 OXFAM, supra note 65, at 10.

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violence often result in serious injury, death, 10 4 and depression 1°5 among women, and can thus negatively impact the ability of women to contribute productively to restoration efforts.

Aside from the harms caused by sexual abuse and violence, women post-disaster face serious health concerns as well. Beyond the normal health concerns of those living as refugees in crowded conditions without adequate sanitation levels, or those trying to make do with diminished resources, women are in a unique place. First, any physical weakness from gendered cultural practices, such as allocating a greater portion of nutritious foods to males and resisting medical attention for women exhibiting signs of malnutrition, could result in decreased immunity. 06 This problem could be compounded if females continue to distribute resources in this way, particularly in light of even leaner financial and agricultural circumstances.1

0 7

Second, increased sexual violence can lead to the spread of dangerous STDs, which women may not be willing to discuss due to the way in which the disease is contracted. Even if they are willing to come forward, the camps are not always equipped with the resources to treat STDs. 108 Increased sexual violence can also mean more pregnancies, especially if contraceptives are not readily available. At any given time,

104 See, e.g., U.N. Children's Fund, Domestic Violence against Women and Girls, 6

Innocenti DIGEST 4, 7 (2000) (reporting a link between domestic violence and suicide rates among women, as well the incidence of murder of battered women by their batterers); see also Nat'l Center for Injury Prevention & Control, Intimate Partner Violence Fact Sheet (2006), http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/ipvfacts.htm (providing national U.S. statistics showing the physical, social, and psychological impact of domestic violence on women).

105 Norris, supra note 100.

106 Amartya Sen, Many Faces of Gender Equality, FRONTLINE, Oct. 27-Nov. 9,

2001, at 12.

107 Delica, Enhancing Women's Capacity, supra note 78, at 2.

108 See Sandra K. Krause, Rachel K. Jones & Susan J. Purdin, Programmatic

Responses to Refugees' Reproductive Health Needs, 26 INT'L FAM. PLAN. PERSP. 181, 186 (2001) for a discussion of ill-equipped camps in Guinea:

The Guinean health services were the designated provider of health services to Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea's Forest Region. Availability of drugs for the treatment of STDs has been problematic during the entire 10 years of the refugees' residence in the area. •.. In Thailand, antiretroviral drugs are only available to people who can pay for them, and hence have been unavailable to the refugees.

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eighteen to twenty percent of the female population is pregnant or lactating, which results in increased nutritional needs and decreased immunity.10 9

Further, fifteen percent of pregnant women experience unforeseen pregnancy-related complications that necessitate lifesaving emergency care.' 10 Under unhygienic conditions and without properly trained doctors, women giving birth are at greater risk. Third, inadequate shower facilities and lack of sanitary napkins can also lead to health problems for women.111

The physical effects of violence and health vulnerabilities compound many of the deeper challenges that women face in gaining financial security post-disaster. First, women's labor is often non- remunerated; as such, it is not targeted in development or disaster programs. 112 Men are given most of the remunerated employment post- disaster, disadvantaging women who also need support.1 13 The work done by women at home is not considered in damage assessments and is therefore not addressed by aid initiatives. 114 This problem is especially debilitating for female-headed households, who have limited other means of making money and increased caretaking responsibilities.' 15 Further, widows often are unable to prove ownership of their homes because they were newly married or not legally registered, 116 or because their house was registered only in the husband's name. 117 Lastly, women often have

109 Soroptimist, supra note 80, at 1.

110 Medica Mondiale, supra note 22.

111 OXFAM, supra note 65, at 10.

112 Angeles Arenas Ferriz, The Relevance of Considering a Gender Perspective in Damage Assessment and Recovery Strategies: A Case Study from El Salvador, Central America 1-2, delivered to Expert Group Meeting on Environmental Management and the Mitigation of Natural Disasters: A Gender Perspective, U.N. Doc. EGM/NATDIS/2001/EP9 (Nov. 26 2001), available at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/env-manage/ documents/EP9-200lNov26.pdf.

113 id.

114 Id.

115 Sarah Bradshaw, Socio-Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters: A Gendered Analysis, 32 CEPAL – SERIE MANUALES 14-15 (May 2004), available at http://www.eclac.cl/mujer/reuniones/conferencia regional/manual.pdf.

116 Posting of Suriya Women's Development Center to Women's Coalition Batticaloa, http://www.womenscoalition batticaloa.blogspot.com (Feb. 2, 2005, 22:28 EST).

117 OXFAM, supra note 65, at 7.

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difficulty seeking post-crisis justice due to barriers in the legal system. 11 8 As a result, women are unable to tap into their maximum capacity as producers, and are forced to carry out far less efficient tasks in an effort to support their families.1 9 This oversight is fatal for efforts to ensure resilience post- disaster, and allows existing instability to be magnified.

B. Women as Pivotal Actors in Disaster Mitigation

While the above discussion may seem to paint women solely as victims in disaster efforts, it is important to note that women also tend to be active and resourceful disaster responders. Certainly, addressing the root causes of women's vulnerability is crucial to successful disaster mitigation efforts. However, women have much to add, not only to address their own needs, but also those of their communities. For example, where women have been integrated into warning systems-usually due to men migrating away for work-they are remarkably adept at reading the signs and ensuring that the most vulnerable members of society are warned.120 With

118 See generally Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement on the Advancement of Women, May 7-10, 2005, Putrajaya Declaration and Programme ofAction on the Advancement of Women in Member Countries of the Non-Aligned Movement (May 10, 2005), available at http://www.iwraw-ap.org/news/nam.htm (discussing the need for legal literacy programs for women specifically in natural disaster situations in light of addressing issues of concern with regard to women and the gaps, challenges, and obstacles that obstruct efforts to empower women and achieve gender equality); The Secretary- General, Report of the Secretary-General on Preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace: Review and Appraisal of Implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, delivered to the Comm 'n on the Status of Women, U.N. Doc. E/Cn.6/1995/3/Add.9 (Feb. 8, 1995) ("The majority of Governments recognized that, in addition to de jure restrictions in land ownership by women, de facto obstacles existed and poverty associated with legal illiteracy on rights and traditional values were mentioned as two such obstacles."); Women for Int'l Peace & Arbitration, Remaining Gaps and Challenges, http://www.wipa.org/Article_7.htm (last visited Apr. 20, 2006) ("T]here remain legal obstacles to women's access to and participation in power and decision making, in many instances, customs, traditions and stereotypes, embedded in daily routines or codified in laws, constitute the major source of resistance.").

119 See generally Ferriz, supra note 112 (arguing for the need to address obstacles facing women who seek to participate in productive work to ensure successful disaster mitigation and prevention).

120 See, e.g., MADHAvi ARIYABANDU, WOMEN: THE RISK MANAGERS IN NATURAL

DISASTER 6 (2004), available at http://www.ssri.hawaii.edu/research/GDWwebsite/pdf/ Ariyabandu.pdf (providing several examples of women's roles in creating and ensuring the success of warning systems, such as forming watch groups to warn about monsoon-induced rock slides in Sri Lanka and observing water levels to warn for floods in Bangladesh); see

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their social role as caretakers in many cultures, women are quick to ensure that children and animals reach safety. 121 In the face of crisis, women rapidly form formal and informal social networks that allow them to efficiently procure foodstuffs, fuel, bedding, and material for makeshift household purposes. 122 Both during and after crises, social norms allow women to ask for help in such ways while barring men from doing so123 As a result, unlike men, who often rely on government aid and on strategies that take them away from the community, women are able to solve problems locally.124

Women also have the capacity to empower themselves when they are involved in the planning and implementation of disaster relief programs. For instance, women are generally more successful in communicating their own needs and formulating plans to address those needs.125 Further, women are more likely than men to allocate household resources effectively because men are less likely to correctly assess household needs, and, as experts have argued, men are more inclined to sell or barter aid items for personal activities and benefits. 26

Finally, including women in the process can serve the function of addressing the very sociocultural norms that leave women vulnerable and

also ISDR, Women, Disaster Reduction, supra note 76, at 4 (discussing the role of women in taking over warning systems in the wake of Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua and Hurricane Fifi in Hondouras).

121 Ariyabandu, supra note 120, at 3.

122 Soroptimist, supra note 80, at 1; Ariyabandu, supra note 120, at 6 (citing a study on flood relief conducted in Jolpur, Bangladesh that found that, "the social networks of women provide emergency survival support during floods. For instance, food items, fuel, bedding, and material for makeshift household purposes are borrowed on loan or given as charity. Borrowing of food or minor items is not identified as a man's responsibility, asking for help from others is looked down, [sic] as beneath his dignity.").

123 Ariyabandu, supra note 120, at 6.

124 Soroptimist, supra note 80, at 2.

125 Id.

126 Id. at 2-3; see also ISDR, Women, Disaster Reduction, supra note 76, at 5 (providing the example of a Peruvian fishing village where a warning system targeted at men resulted in unemployment and increased poverty. Men, for some sociocultural reason, did not inform their wives of this warning and did not alter their spending habits. As women controlled much of the household food and fuel budgeting, the failure to warn them meant that they were unable to stock up supplies.).

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undermine the restoration of their stability and security. 127 Women's participation can ensure that men realize the power of women to challenge existing gendered norms if they so choose. As such, gender-sensitive disaster mitigation can not only ensure that aid systems address their likely insecurities and harms, but can also uncover the causes of these vulnerabilities.

While there is no one program of action that can protect and empower every woman in every situation, implementing gender-sensitive programs would allow aid workers to assist the overwhelming majority of those harmed in disasters. Through gender-sensitivity and recognition of women's capacity to contribute, disaster efforts are likely to increase exponentially in success.

IV. GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN DISASTER EFFORTS AS KEY TO RESTORATION OF PEACE AND SECURITY

A. The Domino Effect: How Gender-Blind Disaster Policies Can Undermine Conflict Resolution Efforts

As argued above, the centrality of gender concerns to disaster mitigation means that any initiative seeking to restore peace and security should attempt to further the response to women's needs in disaster policies.128 Every Member State of the U.N. has explicitly recognized the significance of addressing harms to women, as well as the need for women's participation, as important to attaining stability through conflict resolution. 29 However, similar attention has not been granted to the harms to women in disasters.

This disparity in attention is especially shocking when one considers the integral role that gender mainstreaming in disasters could play in accomplishing 1325's purposes. The goals of 1325 may be envisioned on three levels: (1) protecting and empowering an especially marginalized

127 Soroptimist, supra note 80, at 3.

128 See CEDAW Comm., supra note 6; see also NGO Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security, NGOWG Statement on Tsunami Relief Efforts: Include Women in All Relief and Reconstruction Efforts, Jan. 24, 2005, http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ngo/ngo statements/tsunamirelief.html.

129 Press Release, Security Council, Unanimously Adopting Resolution 1325 (2000), Calls for Broad Participation of Women in Peace-Building, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, U.N. Doc. SC/6942 (Oct. 31 2000), http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/ 2000/20001031 .sc6942.doc.html.

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group during conflict, (2) seeking to minimize the effects of current and future conflicts generally by protecting and empowering a significant portion of the population, and (3) by accomplishing the previous two, ensuring that conflict resolution leads to sustainable development. As discussed above, protecting and empowering women in the disaster context can contribute to and is consistent with the latter two goals, respectively. This section focuses on the first goal, showing that 1325 entails awareness of similar vulnerabilities and capacities of women as would gender- sensitive disaster policies.

L The Common Vulnerabilities and Capacities of Women in Disaster and Conflict Situations: An Analysis of the Text of 1325

While it is important not to overstate the similarities between women's experiences in conflicts and in natural disasters, a survey of the text of the resolution and the documents filed in support of 1325 prior to its acceptance demonstrates that the harms that 1325 sought to avoid are quite similar to those faced by women during tsunamis, cyclones, earthquakes, and the like. The text of 1325 emphasizes the need to protect females from gender-based violence and to take into account the particular needs of women and girls in refugee camps and during rehabilitation, reintegration, and reconstruction, just as experts pursuing gender-mainstreaming in natural disaster situations recommend. 130

Looking at the eighteen articles of 1325, if one replaces "(armed) conflict" with "natural disaster," and either substitutes or includes "disaster rehabilitation" for "peacekeeping," "peace," and "peace-building," then there are only two cited vulnerabilities that do not apply-both relating to the repatriation of male and female ex-combatants. 131 The conventions recognizing conflict as human rights violations, as cited in Article 9 of 1325, may differ from the ones declaring the human rights of women in disaster situations; however, calls for gender-mainstreaming in both conflict and disasters invoke the same rights and the same harms. Throughout the remainder of 1325, the only other vulnerability that does not relate to

130 S.C. Res. 1325, supra note 10. For examples of similar recommendations made in the context of disaster relief, see generally CEDAW Committee, supra note 6; ILO, supra note 8; Working Paper 1, supra note 47; Soroptimist, supra note 80.

' S.C. Res. 1325, supra note 10.

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natural disasters is mine clearance, although it seeks to further the same end goal of preventing arbitrary bodily harm.' 32

2. The Common Vulnerabilities and Capacities of Women in Disaster and Conflict Situations: An Analysis of the Negotiating History of 1325

Turning to the negotiating history, one can see even more clearly the correlation between the interests sought to be protected and the opportunities sought to be afforded in both contexts. During the NGO meeting of the United Nations Security Council (the Arria Formula meeting) relating to 1325, the NGO Working Group on Women and International Peace and Security (NGOWG) cited the need to recognize that women often shoulder the burden of caretaking, to take into account women's non-remunerated labor, to assist the increasing number of females heading their household, and to advocate for those women who have been sexually exploited by those officials in charge of restoration. 133 It suggested that the Security Council adopt measures to protect women and girls from sexual violence, prostitution, abduction, trafficking, and threats by those whose presence was intended to bring peace.1 34 Lastly, NGOWG cited the underrepresentation of women and the special characteristics of women that allow them to form networks despite conflict as reasons why they should be invited to participate. 135

The statement of the executive director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) during the Security Council's "Open Debate on Women and Peace and Security" echoed similar goals as NGOWG. UNIFEM's director recommended that future action be guided by an examination of the consequences for women, and by increased gender

132 See, e.g., Expert Group Meeting on Envtl. Mgmt. and the Mitigation of Natural Disasters: A Gender Perspective, Nov. 6-9, 2001, Women's Human Rights in Disaster Contexts: How Can CEDAW Help?, U.N. Doc. EGM/NATDIS/2001/EP.4 (Oct. 25, 2001) (prepared by Feride Acar & Gamze Ege); APWLD, supra note 54.

133 Cora True-Frost, Coordinator, NGO Working Group on Women, Peace & Security, Statement to the Arria Formula Meeting of the Security Council on Women, Peace and Security (Oct. 21, 2004), available at http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ngo/ ngostatements/NGOWGArriaOct04.pdf.

134 NGO Working Group on Women, Peace & Security, The Role of Women in Achieving Peace and Maintaining International Security 7, Statement to the Arria Formula Meeting of the Security Council (Oct. 23, 2000).

' Id. at 2.

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sensitivity. 136 She also called for improved protection and assistance, including access to services relating to reproduction and STDs, dangers related to women being forced into sex for safe passage, and for assistance given to widows; support for women's leadership in peace-building, including at the inter-governmental level; and support for gender justice in post-conflict resolution.137 During the same Council meeting, Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the U.N., highlighted similar views about the unique capacity of women to preserve social order and create bridges when communities have collapsed, the lack of women in decision-making, the need to protect women from rape and displacement, and the concern about sexual violence by peacekeepers.138

Each of the vulnerabilities and potential for women detailed in the text of the law and the statements of support surveyed for this Article mirror those described in the section on natural disasters supra. The commonalities indicate the connection between the immediate goal of 1325 and disaster relief, as well as the positive impact such a resolution for natural disasters could have for both forms of crisis.

B. Aceh, Indonesia: Case Study

The argument that disaster and conflict can feed each other is not something noted merely by theorists or solved solely by implementation of 1325. Women's NGO representatives at the Asian Civil Society Consultation on Post Tsunami Challenges in Bangkok conducted an assessment of the ongoing civil emergency situation in Aceh, Indonesia, and its implications for tsunami survivors. 139 Their research shows many of the ways in which conflict can be exacerbated through disasters, with military leaders embracing disasters as yet another tool to gain political power. It also shows that 1325 alone is not always enough. Under the guise of disaster relief, military forces in Aceh have put an increasing number of civilians in danger.

136 Noeleen Heyzer, Exec. Dir., U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Statement to the Security Council's Open Debate on Women and Peace and Security 3, 5 (Oct. 24 2000), http://www.peacewomen.org/un/sc/countrystatements/unifem.pdf.

137 Id. at 2-5.

138 Press Release, Security Council, Secretary-General Calls for Council Action to Ensure Women Are Involved in Peace and Security Decisions, U.N. Doc. SG/SM/7598 (Oct. 24, 2000).

139 APWLD, supra note 54.

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In 2003, the Indonesian government declared military emergency to combat the armed independence movement in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD). 140 Since then, there have been reports of increases in the number of cases of extrajudicial executions, "disappearances," arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence, forced displacement, and destruction of property. 41

Prior to the tsunami, there were reports of violence against women during the conflict in Aceh. For instance, the Special Rapporteur noted in her 2001 report that conflict-related rapes had been reported in the village of Alue Lohn in North Aceh. 142 Women's NGOs participating in the Asian Civil Society Consultation documented the use of rape as a weapon of war, the rise in female headed households due to migration and casualties of war, the incidence of diminished health and increased caretaking responsibility, and the occurrence of rape by peace workers. 143 Thus far, the advocacy surrounding 1325 has been effective in encouraging the Indonesian government itself to at least pay lip service to the rights of women, as can be seen from the statements in favor of gender-mainstreaming by state representatives at a 2004 Security Council meeting. 144 The Resolution has also created a platform for international NGOs to advocate for international punishment of violence against women in Aceh. 145

140 AMNESTY INT'L, INDONESIA: REPORT 2004 (2004), http://web.aniesty.org/ report2004/idn-summary-eng [hereinafter Indonesia Report].

141 Id.

142 U.N. Econ. & Soc. Council [ECOSOC], Comm'n on Human Rights, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its Causes and Consequences, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/2000/68/Add.4 (Mar. 13, 2000) (submitted by Radhika Cooraraswamy in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1997/44).

143 Nunuk P. Murniati, Women in Aceh, and Women's NGOs, ASIA PACIFIC FORUM ON WOMEN, LAW AND DEVELOPMENT: FORUM NEWS, Aug-Sept. 2004, http://www.apwld.org/vol 162-03.htm.

44 Ambassador Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia, Statement at open Meeting of the Security Council under the Agenda item: "Women and Peace and Security" (Oct. 28, 2004), http://www.indonesiamission-ny.org/NewStatements/ ps102804.htm (stating that Indonesia embraces "the principle that women should enjoy equality in all spheres of society" and "supports gender mainstreaming into the peacekeeping and peace-building work of the United Nations system").

145 Indonesia Report, supra note 140. See generally Peace Women, Women, Peace, and Security: Acheh (Indonesia), http://www.peacewomen.org/WPS/Acheh.html (last visited Mar. 5, 2006) [hereinafter Women, Peace & Security] (quoting Suraiya Kamaruzzaman, executive director of Flower Aceh, as stating: "Women are organising for peace. They are praying, marching in the streets, distributing flowers and the message 'stop violence against women.' Women have held discussions with President Gus Dur and even with the army.

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Despite the potential for 1325 in Aceh, women are still experiencing the conflict in a particularly gendered way. During more than twenty-five years of civil war, approximately 20,000 people were killed. Data from the provincial government shows there are at least 460,000 female heads of household, 377,000 of whom are widows. 146 The large number of widows is due to the great number of husbands who have been killed or "disappeared., 147 Women, now approximately seventy percent of the population in Aceh, 148 have suffered at the hands of the state through rape and abuse by the Indonesian army. 149 For instance, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia, Komnas HAM) reported that, during its investigations of human right violations committed between 1989 and 1998, it received details of 102 cases of rape. 150 Women have been tortured and punished for their husbands' involvement in the independence movement; moreover, they have been culturally repressed by patriarchy and are victims of domestic violence. 15 1 The patriarchal norms have meant that in times of sacrifice and conflict, women are pulled out of schools first and their needs are neglected in ad hoc internal displacement programs. 12

Rather than providing international aid workers with another line of protection for women, the failures of disaster aid have simply perpetuated the instability and violence that has been the mark of Aceh's military

They have also proposed to the commander of the Aceh Freedom Movement army that a special zone of peace for women should be set up. They have taken their campaign to the United Nations.").

146 Women, Peace & Security, supra note 145.

147 Indonesia Report, supra note 145.

148 Women and Disaster: Resilience Amid Ruin, PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM, Nov. 2005, available at http://www.pcij.org/i-report/4/aceh- women2.html ("Ironically, 70 percent of Aceh's pre-tsunami population consisted of women, because men were either being killed or were fleeing the conflict between the Indonesian military and separatist Free Aceh Movement or GAM.").

149 Women, Peace & Security, supra note 145.

150 Amnesty Int'l, Indonesia: The Impact of Impunity on Women in Aceh 1, Al Index ASA 21/060/2000, Nov. 23, 2000, available at http://web.amnesty.org/library/pdf/AS A210602000ENGLISH/$File/ASA2106000.pdf.

151 Women, Peace & Security, supra note 145.

152 Indonesia Report, supra note 140.

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rule. 53 As a result of the tsunami, about 300,000 people have been reported killed or missing, and about 700,000 are internally displaced. 154 One of the most comprehensive reports on the situation in Indonesia came from representatives of women's organizations attending the Asian Civil Society Consultation on Post-Tsunami Aid. According to a report issued by this coalition of seventy NGOs in tsunami-affected areas, the Indonesian government has restricted the movement of NGOs to the two city centers and has allowed foreign troops to stay for only about two months."' Beyond this, the Indonesian government's recovery plan involves a "resettlement programme," which requires the internally displaced persons to move to large barrack-style camps. 156 There are allegations that the intent of the program is to allow the Indonesian government to take over the "coastal" land and control the Acehnese people without international documentation of human rights violations. 157 Moreover, the lack of transparency with relation to aid money means that there is no way to know whether the money is going to national NGOs, international NGOs, or others; in fact, the military prohibited local NGOs from participating in the aid-distribution process. 158

Essentially, the slow implementation of 1325 means that women are already vulnerable to the health and economic risks that come with sexual violence, financial stress, and increased caretaking responsibility. The tsunami has further deprived women of resources and created a deeper sense of vulnerability among women. 159 In Aceh, the number of women who died in every village exceeded the number of men who died. 160 The following charts from Oxfam's report on the tsunami's effect on women illustrate the numbers.

153 APWLD, supra note 54.

154 id.

155 id.

156 id.

157 Id. (stating that these laws are said to "isolate communities from much needed outside assistance and prevent[] . . . independent human rights monitoring of the ongoing conflict and its impact on the civilian population").

158 Id.

159 See generally id.

160 OXFAM, supra note 65, at 4.

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Aceh Besar District

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Village Population Survivors Surviving Surviving pre- Females Males tsunami

Gampong 242 123 39 84 Baru Meunasah 1,110 159 45 114 Masjid Lamsenia 220 124 26 98 Dayeuh 4,500 270 79 191 Mapplam

North Aceh District

Village Population Total Fatalities: Fatalities: pre- Dead female male tsunami

Sawang N/A 93 70 23 Kuala N/A 85 68 17 Keureutou Kuala N/A 146 117 29 Cangkoy Matang Baroh N/A 42 29 13

The practice of excluding women from decision-making during conflicts has carried over to the disaster relief effort.1 6 1 Since sixty percent of the

161 See id. at 6. For a discussion of women's lack of involvement in relief efforts, see also APWLD, supra note 54:

Women are not involved in the governance of the camps, in particular on the allocation of shelters and supplies. They are excluded from the negotiation processes with parties outside the camps including national and international aid organisations and government institutions that provide supplies …. Aceh is a province with predominantly Muslim population and strong patriarchal culture where Shariah (Islamic) law is practiced. Women are represented by male family members in the public life, therefore at IDPs camps women are not involved in management of the camps.

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current internally displaced persons are female, this means a significant portion of the population is not represented. 162 The new barracks have open bathrooms, which deter women from appropriate hygiene and put women at risk of assault or rape. 163 Resources are distributed on the basis of single adults, meaning that single mothers are more likely to be malnourished. 64

The reproductive needs of women, such as tools for the safe deliveries of babies, are almost completely ignored.1 65

As argued above, the cultural norms that advocate for women's representation in public life by male family members constitute the root cause of women's disempowerment in both disaster and conflict situations. Because of social and precautionary restrictions on movement, women are precluded from participating in the management of camps or seeking other housing. 166 As such, the Acehnese women and their children are forced to live in conditions that undermine any hope they may have of personal economic self-sufficiency as well as Acehnese political independence.

Through this examination of Aceh, Indonesia, one can see how a successful effort to protect women from harms in either disaster or conflict could have had extremely positive spillover effects into the other. The root

Id. 162 OXFAM, supra note 65, at 4.

163 See APWLD, supra note 54; see also OXFAM, supra note 65, at 10.

164 See APWLD, supra note 54 ("Distribution of food, mattresses, sheets and

blankets is mainly based on the needs of single adults with no consideration of their children. As a result, mothers go hungry after sharing with their children and have to sleep on the ground during rainy season in Indonesia.").

165 Id.

166 See Joint Press Release, Joint Action Group Against Violence Against Women

et al., Tsunami Disaster: Gendered Aid Is Also Important (Jan. 21, 2005), http://www.wao.org.my/news/20050101tsunami.htm. For a discussion of the various restraints on women, see also Janice Duddy, What is the Role of Women in Disasters?, http://www.awid.org/go.php?stid=1337 (last visited Mar. 6, 2006):

There are many casualties among women in disasters, in particular, if women['s] . . . mobility is restricted or otherwise affected due to cultural and social constraints. … Women's . . . reproductive roles can create mobility and health constraints. It is older women, in particular the very old, women with disabilities and pregnant and nursing women, and those with small children who are often most at risk, left behind or left out, or the last to leave in cases of emergency because they lack knowledge, mobility and resources.

Id.

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causes are similar-a lack of accountability for peace keepers and military concerning sexual violence, sociocultural norms among women that discourage reporting incidences of sexual violence and prevent participation in governance structures, and refusal to acknowledge the care of children as a joint responsibility, rather than the province solely of women. 67 In either case, if the vulnerabilities of women had been addressed by U.N. workers at its root (placing women in positions of power, encouraging comfort when discussing sexual violence, and training men to share child-care responsibilities) or in relation to the effects (providing treatment for STDs, counseling for rape victims, extra food for women, and job opportunities for women), the resilience of Aceh may have been enhanced in both situations. Particularly because women are pivotal to the success of disaster and conflict rehabilitation processes, having two resolutions would at least double the guarantees that international law offers to women.

V. CONCLUSION: THE POTENTIAL FOR A SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON GENDER IN DISASTERS

As the Indonesian example shows, the intersections between disaster and conflict are intricate, complex, and reciprocal. For many practitioners writing guides on these issues through the lens of gender, including the ILO and UNDP, it is useful and efficient to write a "crisis" management manual that can encompass both disaster and conflict. The U.N. Security Council, however, remains unwilling or unable to recognize the ability of these two aid programs to further each others' goals and to achieve the ultimate goal of sustainable development.

Looking at the U.N. Charter, it does not seem that the U.N. Security Council would be acting ultra vires in putting forth such an initiative. "Threat to peace" in Article 24 is not a term of art, and as such, the Security Council is free to define it as it pleases. Indeed, the Council has explicitly reserved the power to regulate emergencies created by the eco-system. The only external limit on the Council's ability to act is political will. As shown above, however, nations have overwhelmingly supported non-Security Council based conventions that have called for similar protections for women. The consensus that women should be protected and empowered in disaster situations is clear.

167 See generally OXFAM, supra note 65 at 2, 9, 14 (explaining that women are especially vulnerable to natural disasters because childcare keeps them around the home, and calling for better reporting of sexual violence).

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The existence of such power and such consensus seems to lead to one conclusion-that the Security Council has yet to recognize the link between disaster relief and conflict and thus is unwilling to expend the political capital on such a resolution. This Article has shown that the goals of a gender-sensitive disaster relief program are consistent with 1325's goals on every level. First, except for the need for gender-sensitive repatriation efforts and mine clearance, every one of the interests protected in 1325 is present in the disaster context. Of the supporting reasons cited by the Secretary-General, UJNIFEM's Executive Director, and the NGO Working Group on International Peace and Security for gender- mainstreaming in conflict situations, not one is inconsistent with of the need for gender-mainstreaming in disaster relief situations. If it were not for the fact that "natural disasters" are not discussed in the negotiating history or the text, one might even interpret 1325 to include disasters. Just like 1325, a resolution calling for gender-mainstreaming in natural disaster situations would serve the goal of diminishing the risk of harm to females.

Second, a disaster-focused 1325 would be just as powerful, if not more so, in saving lives and empowering potential victims. While conflicts usually kill more men then women, disasters themselves statistically kill more women than men-as many as eighty percent more in the tsunami, based on the statistics provided by Oxfam. 168 In achieving the goal of minimizing the total damage of a crisis, gender-aware disaster policies are central. For areas hit by conflict, it is likely that women comprise more than half of the population. 169 Targeting the majority of the population- especially when that population is statistically the hardest hit–even in countries without domestic conflicts in recent history, just makes practical sense.

Finally, a disaster-specific 1325 would contribute to the efforts of peacekeepers and peace-builders by furthering the goal of peace and security. Disasters create chaos, violence, desperation, and discontent while revealing internal tensions, such as racism 170-the conditions in which

168 OXFAM, supra note 65.

169 See, e.g., WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN LIVING

IN SITUATIONS OF ARMED CONFLICT 9 (2001), available at http://www.who.dk/document/ e74469.pdf (discussing the feminization of populations in conflict-afflicted countries due to a disproportionate number of male casualties).

170 The racial tensions stirred up by Hurricane Katrina exemplify the role of natural disasters in exacerbating existing conflict. See, e.g., Reactions to Katrina Split on Racial Lines, CNN.cOM, Sept. 13, 2005, http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/12/katrina.race.poll!; Editorial, Katrina's Racial Storm, CHICAGO TRIB., Sept. 8, 2005, available at http://obama.senate.gov/news/050908-katrinas-racial-storm/index.html.

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conflict is bred. As the Indonesia example shows, it is quite simple for a military government to commandeer disaster efforts to perpetuate cycles of disadvantage. However, the effect is not lost on those who are being disempowered. To create peace and security is to ensure that resources are distributed fairly and that vulnerabilities are addressed. Empowering women in relief efforts has been shown to further exactly these goals. The recognition of this fact brought about the political drive for 1325. It is time for the Security Council to realize that the women facing tragedy by natural disasters can and should be empowered to tap into the same skills as their female counterparts confronting man-made crises.