Women’s empowerment following disaster: a longitudinal study of social change

Abstract

This paper examines changes in gender relations in a small coastal community as a result of the 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami. Vulnerability and resilience are used as a conceptual framework to analyse these changes. Based on empirical evidence from a seven-year longitudinal study and quasi-ethnographic work, we explore changes in power relations at the different stages of the disaster and longer-term recovery as well as the conditions that fostered these changes. Our findings show distinct patterns of change. First, disasters can trigger long-lasting changes that challenge historical patriarchal relations. Second, while vulnerability increases following a disaster, resilience can potentially counteract women's vulnerability. We propose that resilience can be a pathway to produce long-term changes in gender relations and empower women in the context of disasters.

Vulnerabilidad social, severidad subjetiva y crecimiento postraumático en grupos afectados por un desastre climatológico

“…Las mujeres pueden tener una recuperación más compleja que otros grupos, a menudo debido a la matriz patriarcal de acceso diferenciado a oportunidades, tales como: empleos sectoriales subvalorados, salarios más bajos y (sobre)responsabilidades vinculadas al cuidado del hogar (Enarson, Fothergill, & Peek, 2018;Fordham, 2008;Magaña Frade, Silva-Nadales, & Rovira Rubio, 2010;Moreno & Shaw, 2018;Saavedra, Rubio Carrasco, Valenzuela Contreras, & Balboa Jiménez, 2019). Debido a la brecha de género preexistente, las mujeres son 14 veces más propensas a morir durante un desastre, y presentan mayores problemas de salud y de bienestar posterior (Neumayer & Plümper, 2007).…”

“…Fuente: Elaboración propia a partir de Arriagada Díaz et al, 2016;Arteaga A. & Pérez T., 2011;Berroeta et al, 2015;Bolin & Kurtz, 2018;Chou et al, 2004;Collins, 2010;Cutter et al, 2000;Cutter et al, 2003;Davis, 2014;Díaz Barrientos et al, 2016;Enarson et al, 2018;Fordham, 2008;Giroux, 2015;Guerra et al, 2018;Hallegatte et al, 2017;Moreno & Shaw, 2018;Neumayer & Plümper, 2007;Peek et al, 2018;Rojas-Páez & Sandoval-Díaz, 2020;Rubio Aguilar, 2019;Saavedra et al, 2019;Sandoval, 2017;Sandoval Díaz & Fava Callejas, 2016;Serrat, 2017;Stough & Kelman, 2018;Wisner et al, 2004.…”

“…vez, estas intervenciones psicosociales deben acompañarse del fortalecimiento local de capacidades motivacionales-actitudinales, socioorganizacionales, y físico-materiales, buscando establecer lazos duraderos con la institucionalidad intersectorial vinculada a la gestión de riesgo de desastres(Moreno & Shaw, 2018;Sandoval Díaz et al, 2018).Finalmente, presentamos dos consideraciones. En primer lugar, hay algunas limitaciones metodológicas, tales como la subrepresentación de algunos grupos susceptibles estudiados, debido al tipo de muestreo realizado, y el tipo de análisis de comparación de medias utilizado.…”

How demographic developments determine the management of hydrometeorological hazard risks in rural communities: The linkages between demographic and natural hazards research

“…In addition, scholars point out that women's “sector‐specific employment, their lower wages, their family care responsibilities and particular cultural norms” (Lee, , p. 33) as well as their lower educational level (Muttarak & Pothisiri, ) often result in a lack of capacities to deal with environmental hazards (Cutter et al, ). And, as a consequence of recent developments, women are less often illustrated as merely vulnerable objects or passive recipients of aid, but as active agents (Gaillard et al, ; Moreno & Shaw, ) who have a critical role in hazard risk management (Enarson et al, ; Moreno & Shaw, ).…”

“…Another major debate is arising around the question of women's (reduced) access to economic resources. Especially during recovery, this worsens their already disadvantaged situation and increases their already higher vulnerability (Bolin & Kurtz, ; Enarson et al, ; Fatemi et al, ; Moreno & Shaw, ), which is even more significant in less developed economies (Tragaki et al, ). However, studies which conclude that women often benefit from greater coping capacities, commitment to knowledge of risk, and social relations, underscore how difficult it is “to make generalizations about women's social vulnerability and that women's dependency and needs within the context of vulnerable populations might have been overemphasized” (Rufat et al, , p. 474).…”