The destruction of the earth’s environment is the human rights challenge of our time.  Desmond Tutu

By Keerty Nakray

At the end of this year, when the world convenes for the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference, it will be a critical juncture to deepen the dialogue on gender-sensitive responses to climate change and related public health emergencies. The COP28, held in Dubai, will be a milestone moment when the world will take stock of its progress on the Paris Agreement that aims to limit global temperature increase to 1.5°C, and crucially advance goals that will mobilize a just energy transition, nature conservation, and fossil fuel reduction. For the first time this year, there will be a day dedicated to health, relief, recovery, and peace, with climate health firmly on the agenda. Gender needs to be at the forefront of these conversations. Otherwise, we risk repeating the mistakes of the past.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed what happens when we don’t include gender-responsive frameworks in how we think about our response to global emergencies. The pandemic increased gender inequality and overturned the progress made by women over the last few decades.  It was marked by a flood of women who left the workplace due to care responsibilities and increased violence within and outside homes. Across the world, violence against women (VAW) support services such as helplines, emergency shelters and remedial support that support victims and prevent VAW were disrupted for extended periods due to the rise in infections.

For example, in Mumbai, a study by the NGO SNEHA showed women were left deeply marginalized in informal settlements, with great fears of contagion as they lived in small spaces with abusive partners with no or limited food and income security and a heightened domestic burden.  Women had restricted access to legal aid and little counseling support by SNEHA. The National Crimes Record of India showed a 21x increase in ‘disobeying public orders’ from 2020 to 2019 and ‘cybercrime fraud’ (such as sexual exploitation and extortion) across India during the lockdown phase.  Marital rape is never taken cognisance of by police officials, therefore, never recorded, but medium-term analysis of the National Commission for Women and Google Trends datasets highlight increased domestic violence-related searches and complaints made in India months after the lockdowns. Overall, the pandemic showed an increased mental and physical health toll, especially for the poor and vulnerable people with weak social safety nets and inadequate economic resources to buffer against lost livelihoods.

COVID-19 has been a turning point in understanding public health emergencies and their impact on vulnerable populations. Despite a widespread impact, gender-based violence is still a major unresearched part of the nexus of COVID-19 and the climate crisis.    The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 explicitly recognises gender equality as a critical element of environmental sustainability and development. Major climate change treaties such as The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 1992, 1997 Kyoto Protocol and 2015 Paris Agreement do not address VAW or any form of gender-based violence (GBV). VAW is a critical outcome of social and environmental injustice.  Women are vulnerable to violence due to their economic dependence and social marginalization in a patriarchal society.  Climate change events intertwine with cultural norms and social practices.  Climate change will increase women’s vulnerability in economic, social and education spheres, especially in low and middle-income countries.  

At household levels, limited resources could heighten tensions between women and their partners.  Displaced women and girls will likely see increased threats to their livelihoods, health, and safety at inter-household levels.  It is estimated that 80 percent of people displaced due to climate change are women and girls.  Not only do mitigation and adaptation strategies need to be gender-sensitive, but they also need to have women as decision-makers. They should include significant social and economic programmes such as self-help groups, microfinance, and social protection programmes such as conditional cash transfers (CCTs).  Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic showed us that women’s vulnerability to violence is high without social services.  The feminist caucuses will have to advocate the need to ensure that women and children from the most vulnerable communities get support in the face of climate change.

As COP 28 gains momentum, feminist caucuses must mobilize to bring forth tackling violence against women as a critical aspect of the climate change mitigation strategies – technological, economic recovery and social services. Without it, we face a repeat of the kind of gender inequality and gender-based violence that the pandemic wrought upon the world, but this time, with much more dire – and lasting – effects.

References

Bagchi, S.S., Paul, S. Violence during lockdowns in India. Nat Hum Behav 7, 306–307 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01512-6

Bharat H. and Moumita,  Mandal,  Role of Climate Change in Exacerbating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Against Women: A New Challenge for International Law. 1 Jan. 2021 : 137 – 157.

Huq, M. Das, T. Devakumar, D. Daruwalla, N. Osrin, D. . (2021). Intersectional tension: a qualitative study of the effects of the COVID-19 response on survivors of violence against women in Urban India. BMJ open, doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-050381.

Ravindran, S., Shah, M. (2023).  Unintended consequences of lockdowns, COVID-19 and the Shadow Pandemic in India.  Nat Hum Behav 7, , https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01513-5.

Vahedi, L., Anania, J., & Kelly, J. (2021). Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19 in Fragile Settings: A Syndemic Model. United States Institute of Peace.

Read More: 

The Road to COP28: Advancing Inclusive Climate Action – GIWPS (georgetown.edu)

Cover Photo Credit: Friends of the Earth Scotland