Martha
Thompson, manager of UUSC’s Rights in Humanitarian Crises
Program, and Program Assistant Anna Bartlett recently visited
UUSC partners in Sri Lanka and consulted with colleague
organizations to report on the situation a year after the
tsunami. This is a report by Thompson on how women in particular
are facing significant challenges as they struggle to restore
their livelihoods.
When women in Sri
Lanka were asked which group was most severely affected by the
tsunami, Muslim, Tamil, and Sinhala women were all unanimous in their
answer, "women, of course."
Women in most
societies must struggle against entrenched economic, political, and
social inequalities in the system. The degree of inequalities and
obstacles is what varies. To fully understand this, it is important
not to solely focus on what happens to women, but to look at how a
disaster like the Indian Ocean tsunami has affected men and women
differently.
More women died in
the tsunami because many more women than men were home at the time,
usually working out of their home, and tried to save their children.
But the unequal way in which the tsunami has affected women as
distinct from men goes far beyond that. Consulting
with partners and colleague organizations, as UUSC moves into its
second year of tsunami response we will have a sharper focus on
defending gender rights and reducing gender-based vulnerabilities in
the relief and recovery stage. We have found that women face the
following particular challenges after the tsunami:
- Inheritance rights
are highly contested. In many communities, housing and land deeds
were made only in the name of the man as head of the family. Widows
are facing serious problems in trying to secure inheritance rights
for themselves or their children. Increasing numbers of women’s
groups in affected areas are working on legal aid.
- Sexual harassment
is prevalent in the camps where women and girls have little privacy
and sometimes are in barracks with strangers. The Sphere standards
are internationally accepted standards for relief provision and they
mandate separate washing and hygiene facilities for men and women
and separate quarters for unaccompanied women. But these basic
standards were ignored in a high number of the temporary camps,
leaving women vulnerable to sexual harassment from family and
strangers.
- Domestic violence
has increased in the camps and in all types of temporary housing.
Its prevalence is both disturbing and increasing. From India to Aceh,
local women’s groups are doing an extremely good job against great
odds in trying to draw attention to the issue and providing
counseling for both men and women.
- In India, Dalit
(formerly known as untouchables) women are doubly discriminated
against.
- Early marriage is
increasing. In all countries, the fact that more women died left a
high number of widowers. They are marrying young girls whose
families sometimes see marriage as a step towards economic security.
The girls drop out of school and are pushed into early childbearing.
- Women are often not
receiving enough attention in income-generation programs. In
programs where only women are targeted, they often have to turn the
money over to their husbands. Women who have husbands are best
served by income-generation programs that serve both. Women’s
organizations tell us that this has a double impact, since in many
communities, it’s the women’s earnings that go towards schooling the
children.
- Camp-administered
relief is structured in such a way that people have to stand in line
for long period of time, waiting for rice, for milk, and other food
supplies. Too often it is women and girls who spend hours standing
in line, time that could be spent on schooling, classes, income
generation, child care, and productive endeavors.
- Women need to have
a voice in planning the rebuilding of their communities. Too often,
outside aid agencies work on assumptions without taking time to
understand the social relations between men and women and how aid
and recovery will impact them. In Aceh, it is traditional for women
in some communities to have a women’s house as a public space where
women can congregate and still be protected from public gaze. In the
temporary camps, no women’s houses were built. As communities are
rebuilt, it is key to have women’s voices present so they can put
forth their concerns.
The women displaced
by the tsunami and the women’s groups that work with them are
increasingly raising their voices about these issues. It is our
responsibility to listen, and to act to support them.
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