Gender-Based Violence and Layered Disasters: Place, Culture and Survival

Description

This book investigates the widespread and persistent relationship between disasters and gender-based violence, drawing on new research with victim-survivors to show how the two forms of harm constitute ‘layered disasters’ in particular places, intensifying and reproducing one another. The evidence is now overwhelming that disasters and gender-based violence are closely connected, not just in moments of crisis but in the years that follow as the social, economic and environmental impacts of disasters play out. This book addresses two key gaps in research. First, it examines what causes the relationship between disasters and gender-based violence to be so widespread and so enduring. Second, it highlights victim-survivors’ own accounts of gender-based violence and disasters. It does so by presenting findings from original research on cyclones and flooding in Bangladesh and the UK and a review of global evidence on the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing on feminist theories, it conceptualises the coincidence of gender-based violence, disasters and other aggravating factors in particular places as ‘layered disasters.’ Taking an intersectional approach that emphasises the connections between culture, place, patriarchy, racism, poverty, settler-colonialism, environmental degradation and climate change, the authors show the significance of gender-based violence in creating vulnerability to future disasters. Forefronting victim-survivors’ experiences and understandings, the book explores the important role of trauma, and how those affected go about the process of survival and recovery. Understanding disasters as layered casts light on why tackling gender-based violence must be a key priority in disaster planning, management and recovery. The book concludes by exploring critiques of existing formal responses, which often ignore or underplay gender-based violence. The book will be of interest to all those interested in understanding the causes and impacts of disasters, as well as scholars and researchers of gender and gender-based violence. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Illustrations Figures Tables Boxes Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Layered disasters and gender-based violence: A global perspective 1.1 Gender-based violence within layered disasters 1.2 Disasters and gender-based violence around the world 1.3 Patriarchy as disastrous: explaining the relationship between disasters and gender-based violence A feminist approach Patriarchy, gender and disasters GBV, poverty and disasters 1.4 Disaster planning, management and recovery: multiple actors responding to GBV Prevailing disaster management plans and GBV Trauma, survival and recovery 1.5 Methodological challenges and prospects 1.6 The structure of the book References Chapter 2: Gender-based violence before, during and after cyclones in the coastal region of Bangladesh 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Background: disasters and GBV in Bangladesh 2.3 Aims, study area and methodology The study area Methodology 2.4 GBV in Barguna during non-disaster periods Domestic violence against wives and its causes Dowry Poverty Extra-marital relationships and extra marriages In the name of tradition Child marriage Additional marriages and wife abandonment Rape, abuse and eve-teasing Trafficking GBV and male survivors 2.5 GBV before, during and after disasters Rape, sexual abuse and threats during disasters During the warning period before the cyclone hits During the disaster: GBV at cyclone shelters Sexual harassment during the post-disaster period Post-disaster poverty and domestic violence Child and forced marriages after disasters Social crisis and abuse in the post-disaster period 2.6 The impacts of GBV: health, socio-economic position and vulnerability to future disasters Physical and mental health impacts of physical violence Researcher: ‘Did you get any treatment?’ GBV and changes in socio-economic status 2.7 Conclusion: women, the ultimate victim-survivors of GBV and disasters References Chapter 3: The impacts of disasters and gender-based violence: Flooding in Rangpur, Bangladesh 3.1 Introduction: studying GBV on the banks of River Jamunashawari, Rangpur, Bangladesh 3.2 Background: the concurrence of flooding and GBV 3.3 Aims and methodology 3.4 Study area: demographic and socio-economic characteristics of Kashiganj village Demographic characteristics (age, sex, education and occupation) Household income and poverty 3.5 Socio-cultural and gendered aspects of GBV in village life Child marriage, dowry and culture Domestic violence Sexual abuse, harassment and rape 3.6 GBV during flooding and its aftermath Women's experiences of GBV in shelters Women’s experiences of GBV in flooded houses GBV after flooding: the most crucial time for survival Domestic and dowry violence Child marriage Forced prostitution Migration and trafficking Flooding and male abuse survivors 3.7 Gendered power relations and GBV Masculinity, women’s empowerment and cultural aspects of gender-based violence Male approval as a precondition of women’s empowerment, in relation to GBV Social status, power and GBV Poverty, flooding and GBV – a vicious cycle 3.8 Conclusion References Chapter 4: Flooding, mental health and crime: Women’s experiences in England 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Gender-based violence and disasters in the UK context 4.3 Study area 4.4 Methodology 4.5 The impacts of flooding on housing and financial status 4.6 The impacts of flooding on physical health, caring responsibilities and mental health 4.7 Flooding, crime and GBV 4.8 Conclusion References Chapter 5: Disaster patriarchy in hyper-isolation: Covid-19 and gender-based violence 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Covid-19 and gender-based violence: global impacts 5.3 The social and regional stratification of the risks of GBV during the pandemic 5.4 Hyper-isolation during the pandemic 5.5 Racialised disaster patriarchy and the pandemic 5.6 Conclusion References Chapter 6: Analysing the relationships between gender-based violence, disasters and place 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Place and culture in GBV and disasters Similarities and differences: an intersectional approach Place matters Poverty, structural violence and place 6.3 The role of trauma within layered disasters Psychological impacts of GBV and disasters Psychological impacts of domestic violence and its complexity No place to go Powerlessness and frustration 6.4 Gendering violence Pathways to becoming a perpetrator or victim: explanations and examples Men’s controlling power and societal support: experiences from the field Women as victims: power imbalances and self-confidence Men's violent behaviour in disasters: explanations from the field Stress and tension in disasters and social acceptance Powerlessness Controlling women and money When women abuse men and other women, and men are victims Power dynamics and GBV When women abuse women 6.5 Conclusion References Chapter 7: Responding to gender-based violence during disasters 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Victim-survivors’ strategies: growing resilience or living as victims? ‘I tolerate everything’ Taking financial responsibility Escaping and resisting violence Reporting gender-based violence to the authorities 7.3 The limits of formal responses to layered disasters 7.4 Recommendations for policy and practice Poverty alleviation Increasing law enforcement and legal support Introducing and enhancing awareness programmes on gender and gender-based violence Men as allies Community involvement and women's participation Healthcare facilities for GBV victim-survivors in disasters Gender-sensitive disaster management plans to improve GBV prevention and response Gaps in knowledge 7.5 Conclusion: responses to layered disasters References Index