Climate Change Adaptation and Gender Dynamics

May 24, 2020 | Saudia Anwer and Meer Ahsan Habib
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Lack of access to safe drinking water and salinity often causes water-borne diseases like diarrhoea and malaria, not only among the children but also the adults. Besides safe drinking water, salinity is the biggest misery of the people living in the coastal areas in Bangladesh. 

It does not only cause water-borne diseases but also several health hazards, including high blood pressure and hypertension during pregnancy. Male and female adults, people with disability and children, are all victims of climate hazards. 

But when it comes to women, they are the first to face the consequences of natural disasters and extreme weather conditions. As such, sociological conditions associated with gender are also determinants of the severity of climate change impacts and the capacity to withstand and adapt to such effects. In many countries, including Bangladesh, gender-specific roles and culturally-imposed behaviour expectations put women in highly exploited and disadvantaged positions.