In the emerging gender and development studies, climate-induced violence on women is an integral part of research which focuses on both vulnerabilities and lack of agency of women. Flash floods in Pakistan in the summer of 2022 and the discrimination and abuse inflicted on women of Pakistan thereafter that impaired their lives. In fact, Pakistan is still reeling under the aftereffects of the floods that submerged and displaced almost one-third of people of Pakistan. 

Already crippled with worsening health infrastructure and one of the worst maternity mortality rates in South Asia, Pakistan has also experienced health hazards and sexual and gender-based violence that severely curtails victims’ abilities to recuperate from crisis.

 Women’s vulnerability is accentuated by loss of mobility due to entrenched gender norms, lack of access to resources, information and disaster preparedness. Not only facing emotional and physical stress due to increased workload, women are made to feel subordinate by imposition of sexual violence. This leads to lifelong suffering and trauma.

Women have faced floods in Pakistan before but in 2022, the consequences were humongous. Healthcare was the first casualty with hardly any medical services that could be provided to pregnant women (over 600,000 according to United Nations Population Fund in the upcoming months of 2022) [ ‘Women are again unsafe’: Preventing violence and poor maternal outcomes during current floods in Pakistan’, Sarmad M. Soomar, Abir Arefin and Salman M. Soomar, Journal of Global Health, Jan 2023 URL: https://jogh.org/2023/jogh-13-03005].

There was a lack of sufficient contraceptive pills, proper hospitals for childbirth (many damaged by floods) and privacy of safe places for newly born to be breastfed. According to World Health Organization reports, 1460 health facilities were damaged by the summer floods, 432 were completely demolished. ( ‘Gender and Climate Disaster: A Worsening Situation for Pakistani Women’ Tristen Thakar, Women in International Security, URL: https://wiisglobal.org/gender-and-climate-disaster-a-worsening-situation-for-pakistani-women/) It must also be remembered that in Pakistan many children are also born in homes. All these impediments added to the vulnerabilities of women.

Sexual violence rampant

Displaced women were not safe in tents, camps or temporary shelters. Access to transportation was a huge problem during floods. Commuting to health centres meant taking conveyance like trucks and rickshaws. However, many women faced abuse and experienced rape trying to reach health centres and destinations for care and safety. This led to unsafe birthing conditions and complicated pregnancies. Besides, there was a lack of food security and clean drinking water. Young girls as well as lactating mothers therefore confronted uterine infections.

 Sexual violence was rampant in camps and temporary tents where toilets were made in a way that was insufficient to provide privacy from male gaze. Harassment of young girls and women were common; so were the disappearance of many. Even it was a taboo to speak about violence and harassment as it implied bringing disgrace and shame on families. All incidents of sexual violence were therefore hushed up. 

Underreporting of Karo-Kiri, or honour killings, was already a crime in Pakistan that snuffed out many innocent lives of women. With the occurrence of floods, it was feared honour killings will increase. For instance, the women of a little hamlet in Pakistan named Basti Ahmed Din, were left helpless waiting for survival kits and aid because despite being surrounded by floodwater, they were not allowed to leave for relief camps since that meant mingling with strangers. “It is up to the elders to decide,” said Shireen Bibi, 17, when asked if she would prefer to go to the safety of a dry land. (Women Forced to Stay in Flooded Pak Village. Reason: “A Matter of Honour”, September 14, 2022, URL: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/women-forced-to-stay-in-flooded-pakistan-village-reason-a-matter-of-honour-3342838)

A patriarchal and conservative society

 Deeply patriarchal and conservative Pakistan society with various ethnic groups do not allow their women to venture out without known male counterparts. They would rather starve than give away their 'honour'. This attitude leaves women with no choice but to do with whatever means available with them. According to the synthesis report on Gender and Climate Change of the United Nations submitted in June 2022 increased gender-based violence reduces the adaptive capacity and resilience of women and girls, weakening future communities’ resilience to climate change impacts, as observed across regional contexts. (Dimensions and examples of the gender-differentiated impacts of climate change, the role of women as agents of change and opportunities for women, report by UN Secretariat June 2022. URL:https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/sbi2022_07.pdf)

 In countries like Pakistan, disasters restrict mobility of women more than any unforeseen circumstances. Fear of being blamed by male members like husbands, brothers, sons, etc. for disobedience hampers women seeking aid. Many times lack of knowledge about self-protection acts as a deterrent in getting help after disasters. Sometimes reporting violence is not possible due to high water levels due to rains. 

Sajida Taj, a social scientist and a programme leader at the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, said, “Men and women are impacted differently by climate disasters like floods. Gender norms in our society are a major reason. Gender roles are clearly divided, especially in rural settings where women are responsible for household chores, childcare and caring for the elderly.” (‘Lasting toll of multiple climate disasters on Pakistan’s women, Farahnaz Zahidi, The Third Pole, March 8, 2023. URL: https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/culture/lasting-toll-of-climate-disasters-on-pakistan-women/#:~:text=Reproductive%20health%20suffers%20after%20the%202022%20floods&text=%E2%80%9CTheir%20nutritional%20needs%20are%20not,and%20kitchen%20gardens%20are%20destroyed.%E2%80%9D)

Climate crisis is a lesser word to describe the transformative shifts that are taking place in weather conditions across the Global South affecting mostly countries in South Asia, with Pakistan being a typical example. Attitudes of society need to change towards women. Societal attitudes, traditional norms and cultural practices create entrenched gender disparities that hinder women’s participation in development plans and in survival strategies devised to save them in the post-disaster period. They should be included in the decision-making process when it comes to devising gender-neutral policies for climate disasters. Otherwise, women will be the worst sufferers and left at the mercy of emerging threats of a warmer world.

 (The writer is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Jangipur College, Kalyani University, West Bengal. Views are personal. She can be reached at koyelbasu1979@gmail.com.)