Climate change is the reason why we experience more and more natural disasters. The most vulnerable to climate change induced extreme weather events are people living in poverty. Of these ~ 70% are women worldwide (IUCN)
After a 2007 study (Neumayer & Plümper) women die more often in extreme weather events and their life expectancy decreases more strongly.
Why is that so?
(non exhaustive list)
Women have less acess to preventive measures for disasters (less access to resources)
Women are more likely to be at home during natural disasters and as a result are often warned too late. They also have limited access to weather warnings, due to limited access to technologies.
Women are less likely to be taught to swim, and their clothing prevents them from escaping.
They are often also responsible for children and the elderly when it comes to coping with crises, which further complicates their situation.
In the aftermath of extreme weather events women are also exposed to increased violence, often of a sexual nature.
If they lose their clothes while fleeing, they are sometimes not allowed to enter public institutions.
The number of child marriages in exchange for resources increasing dramatically after extreme weather events, as well as sexual exploitation and human trafficking, which victims are 80% of girls and women.
During droughts or long periods of dryness, it is almost always women and girls who must travel longer distances than they already do to fetch water because of the roles traditionally assigned to them, which can among other things, lead to them dropping out of school.
Epidemics also affect women more, not least because they are largely used as caregivers for the sick.
Another gender-specific aspect in climate impact assessment is that men migrate to cities in search of work during crisis situations, while women often remain behind alone and without financial resources or land tenure rights.
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