Disasters including public health crises like the COVID‐19 pandemic are known to increase instances of family violence against women, children, and other diverse populations. This paper discusses and provides evidence of disaster‐related vulnerability of and violence towards specific groups of people. We argue that the COVID‐19 pandemic presents the ‘perfect storm’ for family violence, where a set of rare circumstances combine, resulting in a significant aggravation of the resulting event. Given the mental health implications of family violence, mental health professionals need to be aware of this issue during the pandemic and ready to assist with the development of strategies to overcome the situation where possible. To provide protection and prevent violence, there is a need to include at‐risk groups in disaster response and community planning. Such a plan could involve gender and disaster working groups at the local community, state, and national levels.

IntroductionThere is a paucity of evidence identifying both the physical and psychological health risks and underlying causes of women’s health-related vulnerabilities related to natural disasters. Therefore, this systematic review will be conducted to determine the impact of natural disasters on women’s health from a global perspective.Methods and analysisFive electronic databases of health research, including ProQuest, ProQuest Health and Medicine, PubMed, PsycINFO and CINAHL, will be searched to retrieve relevant literature where Medical Subject Headings terms and keywords will be used depending on the search method of each database. Google Scholar will also be searched for preliminary information on the topic and to check for further evidence that may have been missed. Inclusion and exclusion criteria will be developed and refined by the research team. We will restrict our search for empirical full-text articles published in the English language peer-reviewed journals between July 2008 and June 2018 to ensure contemporary evidence is retrieved. Two authors will participate in each step in the process, including title, abstract and full-text screening against inclusion criteria, data extraction and quality appraisal. The quality of selected studies will be assessed using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool. Data synthesis will follow a sequential explanatory approach. Finally, the quantitative and qualitative findings will be merged under themes and described using a narrative approach.Ethics and disseminationFormal ethical approval is not required as primary data will not be collected. The results will be published in an international peer-reviewed journal and presented at national and international conferences.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42019123809.

(1) Background: Following natural disasters, women have a higher prevalence of adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Given that the South and Southeast Asia regions are highly disaster prone, a review was undertaken to identify the potential health impact and key risk factors affecting women after disasters in the countries located in South and Southeast Asia regions. (2) Methods: A systematic literature search of four databases yielded 16 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. The review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidance, between July 2008 and March 2021. (3) Results: The majority of studies reported women’s negative/poor mental health, identifying a significant association of socio-demographics, during disaster exposure, post-disaster, and pre-existing risk factors. The six most-cited influences on women’s mental health found in the reviewed literature were being female, adult age group, having no formal education, poverty or low economic status, poor physical health/physical injuries, and death of family members. Women’s health during the post-disaster period was generally reported as poor among all the countries of the South and Southeast Asia regions. (4) Conclusion: Appropriate social support and the availability of free healthcare access for women are warranted in disaster-affected areas. This review offers a valuable contribution to the knowledge of women’s health complications/challenges and associated risk factors related to disasters, essential for the development of strategies to help reduce this burden in the future. Further research is required on natural disasters to identify ways to reduce women’s health impacts after natural disasters, especially in the context of low-income and lower-middle-income countries.