Tsunami: Women should be involved in designing reconstruction

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.