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This presentation by Reiko Tsushima, a gender specialist at SRO Delhi, emphasizes the importance of adopting a gender perspective in post-tsunami recovery efforts. It highlights the disproportionate impact of the tsunami on women, who represented 60-80% of the fatalities, and discusses the specific needs of both women and men during crises. By focusing on gender equality, we can improve resilience against future disasters, ensure equitable access to resources, and empower women economically, thereby enhancing community well-being and stability.
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Emerging gender issues in the tsunami aftermath Knowledge Sharing on tsunami 9-10 May, 2005 Reiko Tsushima, Gender Specialist, SRO Delhi
Why it is important to adopt a gender perspective. • What were some sex specific effects of tsunami? • What could be done in response? • How will gender equality contribute to long term crisis resistance?
Gender lens : why is it important • Human toll results in demographic changes: information available point that 60-80 % deaths were female. Different gender needs of survivors emerging • Crisis magnifies existing inequalities: • Need to avoid reinforcing existing inequality in access to safety and health, to jobs, credit, land ownership, information, decision making, • Enables us to look at impact on both productive and care work and their implications (risk of CL, early marriage etc). • To arrive at the real situation of men and women’s work, beyond assumptions • Women’s contributions to the local economy and community well being are often overlooked in policies for reconstruction
Issues specific to women and girls • Although legislation allows equal land ownership, traditional bias / practices may still exclude women • Lack of voice in decision making, which affects level of benefits they see • Women were engaged in productive activity as much as men, in the same sectors…but their jobs were lower paid • More households will start to rely on woman's earnings - needs for livelihood counseling and skills to secure better jobs • Increase in care work, especially as they may now be called to assist single parent/ male relatives • Sexual violence and physical abuse • Early marriage • Indebtedness, trafficking, child labour • Women’s SHGs weakened
Issues specific to men and boys • Easily overlooked in psycho social counseling • Depression, alcoholism and abuse • Need to start coping with non-traditional role of “care giver” for the household • Limited skills to find new jobs • Indebtedness • Trafficking, bonded and child labour • Recruitment into armed forces
Targeted action • Livelihood counseling, skills training and job matching (mainly for women but attention needs to be paid to the casual labourer, those to be relocated) • Need to move from a “welfare” approach to one that sees women as economic agents • Focus on non traditional skills training • Supporting institutionalization of care work • Involve men actively in counseling, as well as coping with new reality • INFORMATION on their entitlements, job opportunities, gov. policies
Mainstreaming • Needs assessments that collect information disaggregated by sex and analyzes gender differences • Include performance indicators that can track whether benefits reached men and women equitably • Periodic evaluations that include gender equity as assessment criteria
In summary… how will this lead to crisis resistance? • By empowering women, they will be better equipped to claim benefits in post crisis situations, also be better able protect themselves from sexual violence • Working with men to develop positive masculinity values that shun gender based violence will lead to women’s empowerment • Increase in women’s income benefits entire household and helps to build the family’s asset base • Economic independence of women makes them less vulnerable at widowhood
