Women, Gender Norms, and Natural Disasters in Bangladesh

Citation:

Juran, Luke, and Jennifer Trivedi. 2015. “Women, Gender Norms, and Natural Disasters in Bangladesh.” Geographical Review 105 (4): 601–11.

Authors: Luke Juran, Jennifer Trivedi

Abstract:

Women and men are impacted differently by natural disasters, leading to claims that there exist gendered disaster vulnerabilities and a “gendered terrain of disasters” (Enarson and Morrow 1998). What makes this contention even more academically and practically relevant are recent increases in the number of natural disasters and affectees (Guha-Sapir and others 2004; Paul 2011). The confluence of gender and disaster is particularly clear in Bangladesh, a country challenging twin specters of gender issues and an array of regularly occurring natural disasters. Bangladesh’s unique geographic situation of extreme population densities overlaid on a low-lying deltaic and coastal landscape interacts with the nation’s range of social and environmental transitions: issues of democracy, government corruption, poverty, rural-urban divides, and gender parity, coupled with problems related to multihazard risk, looming effects of climate change, and issues of environmental justice that predispose certain demographics to heightened levels of risk. Thus, the topic of gender and natural disasters presents a valuable junction for practical and academic exploration,representing a space where these transitions jointly manifest, coexist, and both create and reveal vulnerability.

Topics: Corruption, Democracy / Democratization, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Women, Men, Gendered Power Relations Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Bangladesh

Year: 2015