Along with children, migrant women represent the most vulnerable group of displaced persons in the world, exposing themselves throughout the migration process to sexual abuse, gender violence, discrimination, labor and sexual exploitation, and human trafficking in transit countries. destination and return.
And this reality highlights the need to present more solutions to a migratory crisis that is global, and that in our hemisphere is exacerbated not only by the high rates of insecurity and violence, but by new floods, landslides, storms, hurricanes, and other climatic phenomena that reduce the material and socioeconomic well-being of communities, increasing the displacement of families, often led by women, who decide to seek economic opportunities in a new territory.
“In the Americas, patterns of inequality, poverty, and lack of access to basic services are pre-existing vulnerabilities that exacerbate the risks of communities in the face of the adverse effects of climate change. For this reason, the transition towards more resilient communities must focus on reducing pre-existing vulnerabilities that disproportionately affect people and communities that already live in serious conditions of poverty and inequality, and women in particular,” Dr. Betilde told Huella Zero. Muñoz-Pogossian, Director of Social Inclusion of the Organization of American States (OAS).
Displacement due to natural disasters is one of the most devastating consequences caused by climate change, and vulnerable people living in fragile countries are the most affected. Reason why every year, according to official UNHCR figures [Agencia de la ONU para los Refugiados]more than 20 million people must leave their homes and move to other parts of their own country due to the dangers caused by phenomena such as unusually heavy rains, prolonged droughts, desertification, environmental degradation, cyclones, or the dangerous increase in the level of the sea.
“As in any crisis, women are the ones that are most disproportionately affected, and, therefore, solutions must be thought of that take into account the realities of women, and make them part of the solutions,” said Dr. Betilde Muñoz. -Pogossian, one of the study researchers ‘Environmental Explanations of Central American Migration’published in 2021 by Florida International University (FIU, for its acronym in English).
“Although it is difficult to establish the causal relationship between climate change and migration, and particularly of women, it is clear that the diagnosis and responses have to be from a multisectoral approach that helps to identify the relationships between climate change, domestic violence, food insecurity, among other factors that end up expelling populations from their communities of origin,” he added.
What you should know:
According to the report Women and Girls in Internal Displacement [Mujeres y niñas en situación de desplazamiento interno] published in March 2020 by the Internal Displacement Observatory (IDMC), more than 41 million people worldwide were living in internal displacement at the end of 2018 as a result of conflict and violence. More than half, or almost 21 million, were women and girls. And these figures would be much higher if those displaced by disasters and climate change were included.
Hence the need to reduce the vulnerability of this population to the threat of climate change, for which Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian recommends:
“To move towards more resilient societies, it is necessary to create spaces for dialogue with the communities, to find out their needs and recommendations to face the threats of climate change. These recommendations should also be incorporated into the regulatory frameworks in order to guarantee an adequate response to their needs from an equity perspective. On the other hand, mechanisms must be developed to increase inter-institutional coordination, and implement emergency preparedness plans. And the availability of resources for climate action must be guaranteed, and the results monitored.”
Until now, there are few studies that provide solid data regarding the relationship between migration, gender and climate change, however, initiatives such as the study ‘Promote gender equality in the environment, migration and displacement due to disasters in the Caribbean’carried out by the International Organization for Migration and ECLAC, present significant advances in the understanding of the role of gender in environmental migration, since, considering that gender violence is considered in many countries as a public health problem , we know that national or international displacements exacerbate the vulnerability of women at different stages of the migratory process.
Therefore, Muñoz-Pogossian also suggests:
“Invest in disaster preparedness in damage assessment, epidemiology, health services, infrastructure protection, water and sanitation, administration, logistics, and communication, as this will reduce damage and losses to prevent impacts on populations and communities. And the private sector must also commit to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices that guarantee the sustainable use of natural resources, respecting and protecting the well-being of communities, especially those highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change”.
Displacement due to disasters is growing as a result of climate change, and the risk of women and girls who live in particularly difficult areas, where they do not always have the resources that allow them to adapt to an increasingly hostile environment, prompt them to seek solutions and act in favor of who need the most help to resist the growing instability caused by the climate crisis.
*Camila Mendoza is a Chilean journalist who works as a writer for the Sachamama Foundation.