Sexual violence is a hidden impact of the climate crisis thats not discussed enough – VOGUE India

We know the climate crisis is already herewith environmental destruction leading to many people being displaced from their homes, as well as causing health problems and economic hardship. And generally, the impacts of climate change are felt by women and girls the most.

The UN estimates that more than 80 per cent of people displaced by climate change are women, partly due to gendered labour roles such as having to stay behind after disasters to care for children and elders. In the 2004 tsunami, an Oxfam report showed that men survived women at a shocking ratio of almost 3:1 in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India.

One aspect thats not often discussed, though, is how the aftermath of climate disasters can often lead to an increase in sexual violence against women, girls and other marginalised genders of all ages. The reasons for this are multifaceted, and go back to issues of exploitation and displacement, which impact Indigenous, Black, and migrant people the most.

After natural disasters, women who are displaced can end up in unsafe, overcrowded shelters and other facilities where theyre at greater risk of sexual assault, Osub Ahmed, senior policy analyst of womens health and rights at US thinktank the Center for American Progress, tells Vogue.

Almost a third of sexual assaults reported during Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, both in 2005, took place at evacuation shelters in the predominantly Black city of New Orleans, according to a 2006 survey by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, while a rise in sexual violence was also reported in Japan in the immediate aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The economic strain that often follows such disasters can also take away womens financial independence, and often their partners, forcing them to travel further to get resources, such as wood or water in refugee camps, or find work. Psychological and emotional stresses indirectly caused by climate changejob loss, being displaced from your home, or experiencing general civil unrestcan lead to higher levels of sexual violence in the home, Ahmed continues.

New research published in BMJ Global Health explores this connection between the climate crisis and domestic violence, highlighting cases of murder, coercive control, aggressive behaviour, forced early marriage and financial abuse. The study found that more than a third of perpetrators were current or ex-partners, while 15 per cent were relatives.

In communities where extractive mining of fossil fuels or the construction of chemical plants take place, Indigenous communities are also at risk of violence from the sudden influx of mostly male transient workers, according to Amnesty Internationals Out of Sight, Out of Mind 2016 report, as young men are statistically more likely to be perpetrators of violent crime.

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Sexual violence is a hidden impact of the climate crisis thats not discussed enough - VOGUE India