Tsunami: Women should be involved in designing reconstruction

Rina Jimenez-David, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Asia News Network, Manila

Distressing indeed is the news that a new earthquake, of a magnitude of 8.7, has struck off the western coast of Sumatra, in the general area where, three months ago, a more powerful tremor struck and triggered the "killer tsunami" that took an estimated 270,000 lives.

Fortunately, there have been no reports of new tsunami threats or incidents, although Indonesian authorities say almost 300 people have been reported to have died on the island of Nias, said to be a popular surfing spot.

The new disaster brings back memories of the tsunami disaster, lessons from which governments and international agencies are still gathering and applying. One of the more glaring lessons learned is that, while natural disasters can be said to affect everyone equally -- rich or poor, humble or exalted, young or old -- the impact and scale of victimization is not distributed or felt evenly. The most obvious division appears to be gender, with women and girls bearing a disproportionate share of deaths and injuries, suffering and violence.

In a report issued just recently, the British-based charity Oxfam International said December's tsunami killed three times more women than men, with the resulting scarcity of women survivors perhaps accounting for fresh reports of forced marriages and rape.

"The impact on women was seen especially in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India. Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the earthquake-generated tsunami, now has villages where men outnumber women 10-to-1," the report noted.

"The tsunami has dealt a crushing blow to women and men across the region. In some villages it now appears that up to 80 percent of those killed were women," said Becky Buel, Oxfam's policy director. "This disproportionate impact will lead to problems for years to come unless everyone working on the aid effort addresses the issue now. We are already hearing about rapes, harassment and forced early marriages."

Consistent with findings of other agencies, the report concluded that women suffered disproportionately "because they had a more difficult time outrunning the surging waters or the bad luck of being at home while the men were out at sea fishing or in the fields working."

The report found that because of the skewed death ratio, men now far outnumber women in crowded camps and scattered settlements, and the women "are vulnerable to a range of abuses." Sri Lankan women reportedly have been sexually assaulted in camp toilets and domestic violence is on the rise.

In a story based on the Oxfam report, The Associated Press said Indonesian women are being sexually harassed in camps, forced or rushed into marrying much older men and victimized by abusive Indonesian soldiers, who reportedly have strip-searched them.

"We know of at least three marriages in which women married older widowers. What we don't know is how forced it was," said Ines Smyth, gender adviser for Oxfam.

"When we asked them, they say they have an obligation to their family and were frightened for the future. If you lost everything you had, including your family, it's very difficult to refuse whatever is being offered, whether it's protection or the possibility of a house."

Indonesian activists claim it is difficult to get women to talk about the abuse or report it to authorities, the Associated Press report said. The few women left in coastal settlements interviewed said they were unaware of any abuse, and they were focusing on rebuilding their lives.

A possible consequence of such massive loss of women's lives could be the revaluation of women's role in the lives of their families and communities. What will the disappearance of women mean to the ruined villages?

Activists say such radical changes in a village's population will likely alter a community for good, "with men put in a difficult position of leaving a village to restart a family or bringing newcomers into what often was a very tight-knit community."

The tsunami also could adversely impact poor widowers, the report said. "Most would like to remarry and start a new family, but they have no money for the costly dowry and no immediate prospects of resuming their jobs as rice farmers, traders or fishermen."

Survivors in the devastated villages say what they miss most is "the chatter and laughter of the women," with some complaining that "there is no one to do the cooking, the washing, and most of all, to keep [us] company at night."

Given the impact of the tsunami disaster on women and girls, what can government do to better respond to the special needs and requirements of female survivors? Among the strategies suggested by aid and rescue agencies as well as NGOs is to involve and consult women from the very start, from immediate rescue and relief efforts to planning the longer-term rehabilitation and reconstruction projects.

But for this to happen, governments and agencies need to ensure better gender representation among their personnel and officers, more intensive gender-awareness orientation, and more gender-fair distribution of relief and rehabilitation funds to benefit men and women equally.

Turning to another disaster, this one entirely of human origin, the second Abanse! Pinay Forum, on "Women, Peace and Terrorism," takes place this afternoon at four at the function room of Cravings Restaurant on the fifth floor of the Shangri-La Mall on Edsa, Mandaluyong.

Invited as resource persons are Ging Quintos Deles of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and representatives of peace advocacy groups. Attendance is open to the public, though on a "pay-as-you-order" basis. Again, because space is limited, attendees are advised to come early.