In the face of 41,000 dead, it’s hard to care or count the gender. Before 22 million victims, we must try.

At first glance, natural disasters make no difference. However, upon closer inspection, we see that they exacerbate them. According to the UN Development Program, women and children are 14 times more likely to die in natural disasters than an adult man. And in practice, neither an earthquake, nor a heat wave, nor a flood, nor a fire, nor a drought are gender neutral.

The mechanisms responsible for this imbalance are numerous and often complex. When I started researching this particular subject, I came up with an unexpected acronym that helped me – albeit crudely – organize and explain them a little better: FABA.

Care. In all regions of the world, to a greater or lesser extent, women and girls take on the lion’s share of household chores. During natural disasters, this burden increases due to the destruction of infrastructure and makes it difficult for them to access education and work. At the same time, the responsibility of caring for vulnerable members can prevent a woman from protecting herself from a natural event in time or seeking help for injuries and health problems.

Poverty. Women are overrepresented among groups living in poverty or even in economic hardship. They may live in areas with poor or incomplete infrastructure that are most affected by any natural disaster. They also may not have the financial means to move to another, safer area and repair the damage caused to the property or health of their family members. For example, recent earthquakes have disproportionately affected widows and single mothers in Syria, whose numbers have risen sharply in previous years due to the war.

Violence. During natural disasters, cases of gender-based violence against women and girls have increased. This may be due to the increased stress faced by the affected population, the lack of police and protection, and the lack of privacy in the affected areas and camps. In addition to the occurrences of domestic or street violence, sexual exploitation and child marriage have also increased in many areas: in societies with a recent history of such practices, and when the family’s financial means are exhausted, “marrying” an underage daughter may seem to be the only means of survival for her or for other members families.

Reproduction. The functions of the female reproductive system (menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and, accordingly, breastfeeding, gynecological problems, etc.) make them especially vulnerable when hygiene and personal life conditions worsen due to a natural disaster. Currently, difficulties in accessing sanitary pads and tampons, the lack of suitable places for breastfeeding (not to mention childbirth), and the difficulty of providing medical care to pregnant women threaten the health and safety of millions of women in Turkey and Syria. serious risk.

What worries us about the gender dimension of disasters? On the one hand, to prevent their consequences. Once we have studied and calculated the gender impact of a potential disaster, we can integrate a gender dimension into its management. And when did the earthquake happen or the fire destroyed thousands of hectares? Then it is even more important to consider how each management measure affects men and women differently. Also include representatives of the vulnerable in every agency and response initiative: in government, in public crisis response services, in local government, in civil society organizations, wherever a gender aspect of the solution is required.

Ms. Stella Kasdagli is a writer and co-founder of Women On Top.