Gender-based differences in flood vulnerability among men and women in the char farming households of Bangladesh

Abstract

Gender and vulnerability are important issues to examine in the context of flooding caused by climate change. Men and women around the world adapt differently to climate change effects and natural disasters. Therefore, this study examines men and women's level of vulnerabilities and their choices of livelihood practices in char farming households in Zanjira, Bangladesh. The study used primary and secondary data. Both qualitative and quantitative were collected. Quantitative data were collected from a household survey of 115 men and 114 women using a questionnaire. Qualitative data were collected through 15 key informant interviews, 30 focus group discussions, and 18 in-depth interviews. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to assess men and women's vulnerabilities, including three indices of vulnerability measuring access to livelihood assets were used. A hierarchical regression model was used to perform a gender-based analysis. The percentile score for men was 0.430 units higher than for women, revealing that male respondents were less vulnerable than female respondents in the study area. The results of the regression model showed that the use of gender as an explanatory variable increased the explanatory power of the model and was highly significant. The overall findings of quantitative and qualitative data analysis revealed that floods' impacts were different for men and women and that women were more vulnerable overall, in part because of gender-related sociocultural norms. These differentials in vulnerabilities affected men and women's ability to respond and recover from floods and adapt to new opportunities when disaster strikes.

Spatiotemporal variation in global floods with different affected areas and the contribution of influencing factors to flood-induced mortality (1985–2019)

“…Therefore, the curve number (CN, mean value in the affected area) was chosen to represent the hydrological conditions. Previous studies have shown that the scale of exposure, coping capacity and gender have an important impact on flood-induced mortality (Jonkman and Kelman 2005;Shi et al 2016;Shi 2019;Naz and Saqib 2021). Therefore, the population affected by floods, GDP per capita (mean value in affected area) and the female percentage within the total population were also selected as influencing factors.…”

Vulnerability of women in the face of climate change: a study of Wayanad district of Kerala, India

“…Based on the literature we have given equal weights to the variables of the index (Naz and Saqib, 2021; Tendayi, 2011). The vulnerability index aggregates the scores of five dimensions of capital assets under study and an aggregated score is assigned for each individual woman and the index is categorized into three groups (Naz and Saqib, 2021). The indicators used for each dimension of capital assets are: Human capital : Education is a significant human capital indicator which has greater influence in the selection of livelihood practices (Xu et al , 2015).…”

“…This makes the studies related to gender analysis during disaster relevant which focuses on the issues faced by both men and women (Bhattarai et al , 2015). During disasters caused by climate change the key focus should be given to gender and vulnerability (Naz and Saqib, 2021).…”

Effectively targeting climate investments: A methodology for mapping climate–agriculture–gender inequality hotspots

“…Studies in North-Western Bangladesh found that women have a lower adaptive capacity to climate shocks than men as they have limited choices for livelihood diversi cation (Tanny et al 2017, Naz andSaqib 2021). In wetland areas, such as the Kishoreganj-Mymensingh-Netrakona districts, women's mobility restrictions hinder their access to timely warnings about oods and other information enabling them to mitigate or adapt to the climate adversities (Rahman and Haider 2020).…”