Madhavi Malalgoda Ariyabandu
Intermediate Technology Development Group
Paper Presented at "Reaching Women and Children In Disasters"
Laboratory for Social and Behavioral Research
Florida International University
U.S.A
June 2000
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South Asia is the continent where world’s poorest population is habituating. It’s social and economic indicators stand out in terms of the number of persons below the poverty line, some of the lowest literacy and high infant mortality rates.
(Annex Table 1).
A strong labour force can be considered an asset for any country. However, in many
South Asian countries poverty, poor access to basic facilities such as health, education and adequate nutrition, and extremely hard work for survival do not give many of it’s citizens room to flourish in life, or develop their full potential. This is reflected in the social indicators presented in (Annex Table 1).
The occupations of the majority of the resource poor in South Asia include agriculture, fishing, salt pan work and artisan work. Often agricultural activities are carried out in land which does not belong to them (large landowners own the land).
The economic activities are carried out with basic implements. It is not incorrect to say that the major asset of the majority of the people in South Asia is their physical labour. Women often contribute an equal share, and sometimes even a larger share to the economic activities. For both men and women it is hard physical, manual labour for minimum returns that keep them at the minimum level of survival.
When it comes to extreme natural forces, the geographic location of the sub continent makes it highly prone to attacks. The countries in South Asia are affected by floods, cyclones, earthquakes, flash floods, tidal waves and droughts, to name a few.
For instance, between 1990-92 Bangladesh alone was hit by 3 storms, 4 floods, 1 tsunami and 2 cyclones which killed more than 4000,000 people and affected another
42 million. Table 1 gives an account of the devastating effect of extreme forces on the sub continent over the period of 1987 – 1996.
Table 1
1987-1996
Country Number of people killed
% of total killed in South
Asia
Number of people affected
% Of total affected in
South Asia.
Bangladesh
India
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
South Asia
44,014
5,063
86.82
9.99
783
748
1.54
1.48
87 0.17
50,695 100.00
18,574,280
56,563.631
24.05
73.22
200,768 0.2
1,407,065 1.82
504,297 0.65
77,250.041 100.00
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The impact of this magnitude on people and property is entirely due to the limited capacity resulting from lack of resources, and poverty at all levels. According to the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (1993.p.4) people in low - income countries are 4 times more likely to die in an extreme natural event than people in high-income countries.
In the opening plenary it was mentioned that it is the poor and the powerless that get the most direct impact of any extreme natural or economic phenomena. It was also mentioned that the poor face the highest levels of risk to such phenomena. At this point we need to ask the questions - Is the poor a homogenous group? What are the other elements, other than material poverty, which contribute to their vulnerability?
Economic, social, and political factors make the resource poor vulnerable to disasters. Factors such as gender, class, caste, ethnicity, age, and disability make the already vulnerable further vulnerable in different degrees, and increase their levels of risk to disasters.
Specific social features in South Asia include seclusion and limited mobility of women, and the exclusive nurturing role assigned to them in the gender division of labour. Cultural values, religious norms, and social structures force women and children to be dependent on men. Most of the value systems in almost all South Asian societies believe in the need for protection of a male for women to carry on with life.
At the same time, the social pressures arising out of the same value systems force the poor towards action such as female infanticide.
According to the socio-economic indicators, the illiteracy of the overall population is considerably high and the gender disaggregated data points out that female illiteracy is always higher than male. (Annex Table 1). The ownership of assets show a similar pattern where women own less assets, since most societies follow a patriarchal system of ownership of property.
Some of the key factors contributing to women's 'double edged' vulnerability owing to poverty and other social disadvantages in the South Asian context can be stated as follows:

Very high illiteracy levels

Low ownership of assets such as land, and other property (often inheritance laws are male oriented)

Minimum work opportunities outside home

Limited mobility out of home and out of their own locality
 Low social status

Socially constructed dependency on male relatives
All these factors, the dynamics between them, and the processes arising from the inter-relationships between them has resulted in women becoming an extremely vulnerable group in South Asia.
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As mentioned the socio economic, cultural and religious values in South Asia have resulted in its women and female children in particular to be more vulnerable to adverse situations in comparison to men. These dynamics form into vicious cycles, where women and their children get trapped. Therefore, it is nearly impossible for women belonging to already poor and vulnerable groups to bounce back once hit by extreme events. The result in the worst scenario is often women becoming destitute with their children.
Kafi (1992) recorded some cases of women from Bangladesh who have become destitute facing hazards of various nature. These cases demonstrate how each of the above mentioned factors contribute to their vulnerability, powerlessness and destitution. One account (Kafi, page 61) points out how 'Shariah law' was brought in by the male relatives to confiscate the family land in the event of her husbands and son’s deaths by a tornado, leaving the woman and her 2 daughters poverty stricken and destitute.
There are no legal provisions to protect women and their families against such action.
The existing laws may not support this move, however for a majority of women who are illiterate or semi-literate, without financial resources it is nearly an impossible task to seek legal protection.
Work opportunities for women in many areas are virtually non -existent. Therefore when hit by disasters and displaced, for survival many families are forced to take beggars bowl (Kafi, page 40). The situation is worst for women who do not have a male relative in the family (husband, a brother or a grown up son). There are numerous accounts of single women effected by disasters whose children are never sent to school but for begging for family survival. The factors related to restricted mobility do not allow or encourage women to move to unknown destinations on their own in search of employment. Being illiterate, the skills women possess too are limited and basic.
Bhutta (1999) in a study of riverine communities in Pakistan has recorded the impact of river erosion on women and children. The victims belong to 2 villages which have become part of the river bed near Chiniot in Punjab.
The impact on women, as recorded demonstrate the high social values attached to marriage, from a security point. From the affected women’s view point, their land and houses gradually being washed away by the river has denied or delayed the chances of their marriage. The financial constraints have compelled the families to sell the dowries of the daughters and the jewelry of housewives, causing delay in marriages of the girls and rise of insecurity among the housewives. It is further mentioned that delay in marriage in an overly suppressed atmosphere of a tabooed society caused many psychological problems for the girls instigating feelings of worthlessness and self pity.
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Jewelry, in South Asian societies is a significant matter. It is part of the dowry which provide security to women. As Bhutta describes, in the riverine communities it was significant how the linkage was made that the disaster made them to part with the jewelry, to which women clung to throughout their lives as something to fall back on in case of abandonment or widowhood. Women felt that their vulnerability increased since they had to part with the only security they had.
The most visible impact on children in the riverine disaster presented by Bhutta, is the increased drop out ratio from schools.
Observation made in flood affecting areas in
Jhang, Punjab (Ariyabandu, Visit Report to Jhang) is that schools are washed away by the floods so frequently in some parts of the Jhang area, they are closed down permanently. Children who drop out, and who have no opportunity to attend schools, support their parents by taking charge of household chores such as feeding cattle, helping with agricultural activities, or migrate to cities looking for casual employment. Children from very poor families whose parents are displaced or without work are sent to beg.
Bhutta concludes that facing the riverine disaster the children in both villages have been imprinted with the shock and trauma of grief and agony faced. The rebuilding of houses and other rehabilitation activities continued but there was hardly any effort to look into the issues of the lost innocence and trauma faced by the children.
The current crisis in some parts of India and Pakistan resulting from severe drought yet again demonstrate the extreme vulnerabilities of women and children, and the impact this slow on-set disaster is making on them. The ‘Daily Jang’ Pakistan
(25.5.2000) reported about a father from a severe drought hit area of Baluchistan in
Southern Pakistan, who brought his 15 year old daughter to be sold either as a domestic servant or as a bride for a few hundred rupees. With the money, he intended to feed the other members of the family who are dying from hunger. This incident alone reflect the desperation of the poor facing disasters and the manner in which extreme vulnerable and low social position of women is brought out to the open in such situations.
The situation in the areas in India hit by drought (‘India Today’, May 8, 2000) confirm the social, economic, and political issues of vulnerability. Farmers have turned into labourers unable to cultivate their own land, some have been taken into relief camps and some are forced to beg. Women as the caretakers of the households, carrying the full responsibility of their nurturing role, wake up at midnight to trek
5km or more to a well and waiting till dawn for a few drops of water, and sometimes get nothing. In Rajastan, it is noted that women have no choice but to scrounge for water. In the situation of water riots, cast disputes surface, people who are socially known as low caste get less access to water due to the controls introduced by
Brahmins (higher caste).
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The media images show women carrying empty pots on their heads in search of water. It is observed that in some areas only women are remaining to face and manage the crisis. At the onset of crisis, men often migrate to more lucrative areas to earn a living. In the village Sonari in the drought stricken Thar in Pakistan it is observed that it is only women, children and old people remain in the village. (The News,
Pakistan 14.5.2000) Women fetch brackish water from nearby wells, climb trees to fetch a local fruit that help to quench thirst of humans and cattle. The report further noted that without a single man visible in the village, the lives of these hardy women revolve around their donkeys, goats and malnourished children.
Further, the health situation of the women in drought affected Thar is a matter of serious concern. It is reported that thousands of women in the Thar desert area are infected with Tuberculosis. According to a woman who suffers from the disease, men in the community do not consider women important enough to spend money on. She further stated that since there are hardly any women doctors in the area men use it as an excuse for not allowing the women to get medical treatment often. It is socially not acceptable for male doctors to treat women.
These accounts demonstrate the vicious cycle, in which the structures in society keep women at low key in terms of education, employment opportunities and mobility. The major gap here is the socially constructed dependency of women on male family members turn against women in its absence. There are hardly any social structures to address this gap, and as a result the low-key position of women from poor groups limit their options for survival.
Living within these victimising relationships women in South Asia display enormous strength and capacity throughout the entire cycle of disasters; in preparation to face hazards, managing once the disaster strikes, and in rebuilding the damaged livelihoods. As observed in the case studies often it is only women, children and the old remain in the villages trapped till the flood waters recede, or managing till the rains come in prolonged droughts. Women’s extremely high degrees of resilience in difficult situations, and the will to survive and ensure their family survival is noted not only in disasters, but in daily struggle for life.
During calamities, taking care of the meager belongings of the family, ensuring food and water for the family members, looking into the concerns of rebuilding the livelihoods, securing the seed and other productive material, taking care of the sick and old are almost entirely done by women.
There are many examples where women have organised themselves at community level, and have developed disaster preparedness strategies. The group comprising mainly of women who organised themselves to attend to the drinking water security issues in the South East of Sri Lanka (ITDG Sri Lanka initiative), and the women’s group in Banaskanta, in the state of Gujarat in India (Fernando et.al page 35) who launched an initiative to ensure fodder security for livestock during drought are two cases in point for such initiatives.
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However, women's capacity and resilience, their resourcefulness, is usually not taken as a positive variable in disaster planning, and in relief operations. This is a major gap which not only denies women their due from the national resources in terms of benefits, but the plans and initiatives lack the contribution of women, their experiences, and expertise.
Vulnerability involves a variety of layers. It is a too complex task to fully unearth dormant features of situated vulnerability particularly in South Asian societies, resulting from multiple determinants.
Addressing the root causes and social conditions of vulnerability needs to be dealt with at two levels; at the fundamental level, and at a practical level. At the fundamental level the issues of entitlements, access to the basic needs, and the requirements of the resource poor to develop their full potential surface as key issues. To address the fundamental issues of this nature, the will and commitment at all levels is a requirement.
At a practical level, enormous initiatives take place all over the world to minimise the suffering from disasters, to rebuild and rehabilitate We need to question how effective are they in the backdrop of ever increasing numbers of dead and affected from various hazards. Whether these initiatives are capable of addressing the root causes of risk and vulnerability is a question which require much thought.
Taking ‘where we are now’ as the starting point, we need to take initiative to locate disasters from an overall livelihood perspective. Identification of elements of risk and vulnerabilities within the daily livelihoods of the poor will guide us towards the location of hazards, the associated risks and vulnerabilities. Most importantly an overall livelihood perspective will indicate towards the strengths and capacities of people living with disasters.
Therefore, at a practical level to reduce vulnerability to disasters we need initiatives which create space for men and women to enhance their capacities, to enhance survival strategies. Also we need to identify and create risk and vulnerability reduction possibilities within the exsisting livelihoods. A further question arise however, how effective is addressing specific disaster related concerns be, if the fundamental issues are not addressed side by side.
Madhavi Malalgoda Ariyabandu
Programme Manager- Disaster Mitigation
Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG)
5, Lional Edirisinghe Mawatha,
Colombo 5
Sri Lanka
E mail madhavi@itdg.lanka.net
Phone- 94 1 829412-5
Fax 94 1 856188
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References
1.Ariyabandu M.M., Defeating Disasters- Ideas for Action. Intermediate Technology
Development Group (ITDG), 1999
2.Ariyabandu M.M.,Visit Report to Jhang, Pakistan, May 2000. ITDG internal document.
3.Bhutta A.H., The Response of Rriverine Communities to Disasters. A case study of a Pakistan Village Mamola, with Special Reference to Changes in Livelihood Patterns and Community Based Rehabilitation. Unpublished report , ITDG, 1999
4.Fernando P, Fernando V., South Asian Women: Facing Disasters, Securing Life;
Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), 1997.
5.Kafi S.A. Disaster and Destitute Women; Twelve case studies, BDPC 1992, Dhaka
6.Shamim A., A Cry from the Land of Peacocks, The News -Pakistan,
May 14, 2000
7.Shamim A, The Deadly Combination. The News Pakistan, May 14, 2000.
8. World Disasters Report 1993, International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies.
9. World Development Report 1998/1999.
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Annex Table 1
Economy Bangladesh India Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka
Population in millions 1997
Gross National
Product
Billions of US
Dollars 1997a
GNP per capita
US Dollars 1997a
Prevalence of child malnutrition
% of children under age 5
1990-96
Under 5 mortality rate per 1,000
1980
124
33.2
270
68
207
961
373.9
390
66
173
23
4.8
210
49
179
137
67.2
490
40
161
18
14.8
800
38
48
Adult illiteracy rate
% of people 15 and above 1995
Population below the poverty line
(%)National
1995-96 male Female male Female male female male Female male femal e
51 74 35 62 59 86 50 76 7 13
35.6 35
Source: World Development Report 1998/1999
42 34 35.3
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