Gendered Vulnerability to Climate Disasters: Flood-Induced Displacement and Institutional Responses in Bangladesh

This study focuses on how climate catastrophes contribute to an impact in gender-based violence among women, with emphasis on regions where climate disasters are recurrent. It specifically examines flood-prone regions such as Bangladesh, where heavy rainfall and flooding cause massive displacement and forces women to seek refuge in overcrowded camps within inadequate sanitation or resources. The study considers how the social, economic, and political role of women, along with limited access to critical services, financial security, and decision-making, increases their vulnerability. It also focuses on the role of social and legal frameworks in disaster prone regions that ensure the protection of women and girls and address gender-based violence. The objective of this paper is to examine the ways in which climate catastrophe impacts gender-based violence against women with special emphasis on Bangladesh. Climate change amplifies existing gender inequalities and disproportionately impacts women and girls. The lower socioeconomic status of women and girls prevents them from recovering and coping with frequent climate disasters. Women are structurally placed in roles within the household and community that heighten their level of vulnerability during climate disasters. Discriminatory cultural norms increase women’s exposure to higher risks of gender-based violence. In regions where climate disasters are recurrent, existing gender inequalities are intensified, increasing women’s vulnerability significantly. In states such as Bangladesh, climate disaster such as floods are an yearly occurrence. Bangladesh has extremely flood-prone geography forcing them to face the brunt of global climate change. Heavy rainfall and flooding cause massive displacement of people, forcing women to seek refuge in overcrowded camps within inadequate sanitation or resources. Bangladeshi women are particularly susceptible to climate change due to their social, economic, and political role in society. Limited access to critical services and facilities, lack of access to financial security, limited access to decision-making roles causes women to be increasingly vulnerable. Ensuring gender sensitive response in disaster risk reduction requires adequate social and legal tools. Proper social and legal frameworks allow the upliftment of women in times of crisis and prevent increased vulnerability and cases of gender-based violence. This paper will examine the frameworks and institutions present in disaster prone regions that specifically ensure the protection of women and girls. Adequate frameworks that help ensure continuation of education of girls to secure their future, prevention of gender- based violence among women and reducing vulnerabilities of women during climate catastrophes are necessary to reduce structural inequalities present in our society.