The dual role of women in climate activism
The effect of climate change is influenced to a very large extent by existing gender inequalities and gender roles. Extreme weather events such as floods, tsunamis, forest fires, droughts have always had a greater impact on marginalised and poor sections of our society. There are several examples from everyday life, which make it evident that women are disproportionately affected by climate change.
Women’s roles often include gathering and producing food, collecting water and sourcing fuel for heating and cooking. The advent of climate change is making these tasks more difficult than ever. As groundwater levels decrease, and existing water bodies get increasingly polluted or dried up, women and young girls have to travel longer distances for collecting water for household chores. Women have to spend greater amounts of time traveling to collect water,thus reducing the time they can spend on engaging in paid labour. Water scarcity also severely affects women’s right to manage their period hygienically and with dignity. Women need to have access to clean toilets and hand washing and bathing facilities to minimise the risk of infections caused due to poor menstrual hygiene. Often, they also need water to wash their cloth pads while they are menstruating. Air pollution has also been found to affect the health of pregnant women, increasing the risk of miscarriages, preterm births or low birth rate of the foetuses.
Women are also more vulnerable to the adverse effects of natural disasters. UN figures indicate that 80% of people displaced by climate change are women. Since women are more likely to experience poverty and have lesser socio-economic power than men, this makes it harder for them to recover from the aftermath of natural disasters. It was found by an Oxfam report (The tsunami’s impact on women,2005) that in the wake of the 2004 tsunami,surviving men outnumbered women by almost 3:1 in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India.This was primarily because of two reasons: men were more likely to be able to swim, and women lost precious evacuation time trying to look after children and other relatives. Shelter homes for disaster affected people often prove to be ill-equipped for menstruators. There is also an increase in violence against women, including sexual assault and rape, in the wake of natural disasters. Often these shelter homes are the sites of such abuse being inflicted on women.
In 2011, women in India formed 75%of the agricultural sector workforce, but they are paid 22% lesser than their male counterparts, as shown by a report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. Worsening soil quality and water scarcity affects these farmers’ agricultural output. Adding to the issues of climate change is the fact that majority of these women farmers don’t own the deeds or titles to the lands they cultivate,due to existing gender disparities in land ownership.Thus,they are unable to access credits or government benefits meant for farmers.
In this context,it becomes imperative to talk about the gendered impact of climate change.This is exactly what ecofeminism attempts to do.The term was first coined by Francoise d’Eaubonne in her book Le Feminisme ou la Mort (Feminism or Death) published in 1974.In the same year, India witnessed the emergence of ecofeminism in its modern form in the Chipko movement in Uttarakhand. Most people know about the iconic role women played in the Chipko movement, which was geared towards stopping deforestation in the hills, and achieving forest rights for local people.
A historical event occurred on 26 March 1974, when Gaura Devi and a group of village women prevented the felling of trees in Reni village, of Chamoli district in present-day Uttarakhand. For four days straight these women hugged the trees to prevent them from being cut down by the contractors of the State Forest Department.Women in these areas came out in large numbers to support the movement as commercial logging and deforestation was directly impacting their lives.As more and more trees in their surroundings were being cut down for supplying to private companies in other states,these women had to travel longer distances to collect fodder and fuelwood for their homes.They also made up a substantial percentage of the agricultural labourers and thus were directly impacted by the ecological destruction ensuing in the hills.
Another example is that of Medha Patkar, who is considered to be one of the founders of the Narmada Bachao Andolan,an anti-dam movement.This movement raises concerns over the displacement and rehabilitation of people affected by the project.Under the leadership of Medha Patkar, the movement raised larger concerns over the developmental projects being undertaken all over the country.
Displacement tends to impact women differently than men. It is so because mostly men are seen as the head of households and are often the sole beneficiaries of compensation packages. While on the other hand, women become further financially dependent on male members of the family as they lose their traditional sources of income through agriculture or animal husbandry.
There are various streams of thought within ecofeminism. One of these streams tends to focus on the interconnectedness of the exploitation faced by women and nature.This line of thought often assumes women are more connected to nature than men. This is problematic on two counts: It ignores the possibility that men can develop sustainable and caring relationship with nature and on the other hand homogenizes women and their relationship with nature,taking no account of factors such as their class, caste, race etc.
Women are seen as nurturing, caring and giving just like nature, which provides us with everything that is necessary for our survival. These ideas are reinforced through terms such as ‘Mother Earth’ or ‘Mother Nature’. This distinction between feminine and masculine qualities tends to reinforce existing patriarchal stereotypes pertaining to women, who are expected to be caring, nurturing and motherly figures. The idea that women are much more than these roles and attributes still hasn’t caught up in many of these theories. Especially the fact that a woman’s worth is not determined by her ability to produce and nurture children.The issue here is that we tend to focus so much on the feminine qualities of women which make them apparently closer to nature,we fail to take into account their intimate knowledge of the environment around them. This knowledge ranges from sustainable conservation/agricultural practices to water management systems or even their ingenious methods of resource conservation.These stereotypes also underplay their ability to be key stakeholders in affecting sustainable practices at the community level.
Another stream of thought focuses on the gendered impact of climate change. This approach focuses on how natural disasters,deforestation, receding water table,soil erosion and other environmental issues impact women more than men. Even within this line of thought the interconnectedness of nature and women might be espoused. A few Indian ecofeminists attribute the exploitation of nature and women solely to the advent of colonisation and capitalism.In recent times many eco-feminists have pointed out the flaws in such a restrictive understanding of climate change and gender discrimation. Factors such as caste,class and tribal identities have a huge role to play in the lived experience of women,and they cannot be ignored.
While ecofeminism and its various forms are critiqued for a variety of reasons,it’s important to acknowledge how increasingly important this movement is. Ecofeminism highlights the differential vulnerability of men and women to climate change. Additionally it contributes to the rise of ecofeminists who are not just survivors of patriarchy or silent bystanders to ecological exploitation. Women such as Medha Patkar,Archana Soreng,Vandana Shiva,Gaura Devi,Aruna Roy have paved the way for greater involvement of women in the climate change dialogue.When we speak about decentralised governance of natural resources,it is important to keep in mind the marginalisation women face in caste based peasant societies or even some tribal communities.This might lead to alienation of women from the decision making process and control over natural resources.There is a need to strengthen and encourage women’s participation in such local bodies beyond just their token representation in the form of reservations.
Climate finance seeks to support actions or ventures that are geared towards adaptation or mitigation of climate change.There is a need to recognise two aspects here.Firstly, women need a share in the regional climate finance resources to increase their resilience to the negative impacts of climate change on them.Secondly,several women’s cooperative,self-help groups or even private ventures are contributing significantly to combating greenhouse gas emissions and reducing waste generation.These initiatives need to be given due recognition and supported through allocation of climate finances to support them.The 2015 Paris Agreement has made specific provision for the empowerment of women, acknowledging that they are disproportionately impacted by climate change.It is time for all of us to recognise the dual role of women in the climate action space,due to their extreme vulnerability to climate change events and also their intimate knowledge of the environment.
Written by Srijani Datta. She is an 18 year old eco-feminist from New Delhi,India who likes to talk about all things politics,gender and society.She aspires to pursue her higher education in Sociology and contribute to society’s understanding of social phenomenon.
