Climate change could lead to increased violence against women

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Researchers say climate crisis could increase gender-based violence
Pixabay\ Hermann Traub f
12:45, 14.06.2022

Weather instability leads to problems with the economy, psychological stress, lack of food. All of these can have an impact on violence against women.



The study is published in The Lancet Planetary Health. A group of researchers from the University of Cambridge worked on it. Key takeaway: Extreme weather events lead to economic instability, food insecurity and mental stress.

Scholars have noted that weather instability and climate change increase gender-based violence due to socioeconomic instability, structural power inequalities, lack of access to health care, lack of resources, and failures in security and law enforcement. This violence can lead to long-term consequences, including bodily injury, unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection.

The group conducted 41 studies looking at several types of extreme events such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, heat waves and wildfires. The studies covered countries on all six major continents. The conclusion is that natural disasters and extreme weather events lead to an increase in violence in these regions.

According to studies, the perpetrators of violence are partners, family members, religious leaders, aid workers and government officials.

For example, since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States in August 2005, there has been an increase in gender-based violence, especially interpersonal or intimate partner violence. Similarly, a study of internally displaced persons in Mississippi found that sexual assault and rates of intimate partner violence increased during the year following the disaster.

It is worth noting that between 2000 and 2019, floods, droughts and hurricanes alone affected almost 4 billion people worldwide, claiming more than 300,000 lives. The occurrence of these extreme events represents a dramatic change: over the past two decades, the frequency of floods has increased by 134%, storms by 40% and droughts by 29%. These numbers are expected to rise as the climate changes. Consequently, gender-based violence will also increase.

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Artur Zayonts

Artur Zayonts specialises in news from the frontline. A historian by education, Arthur has always sought to bring depth and context to his journalistic work.