Revista de Gestão Costeira Integrada
Volume 16, Número 1, Março 2016, Páginas 79-88

DOI: 10.5894/rgci656
* Submission: 24 NOV 2015; Peer review: 30 DEC 2015; Revised: 7 FEV 2016; Accepted: 19 FEB 2016; Available on-line: 25 FEB 2016

Gender Specific Vulnerability in Climate Change
and Possible Sustainable Livelihoods of Coastal People. A Case from Bangladesh *  

Joydeb Garai^{@, a}

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@ - Corresponding author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
a - Chittagong University, Department of Sociology, Chittagong- 4331, Bangladesh

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ABSTRACT
The paper addresses the gender specific vulnerability of coastal people in climatic hazards in Bangladesh. This study has been conducted by qualitative methods with some qualitative tools i.e. Key Informants Interview (KII) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to get the vivid and comprehensive views about gender specific susceptibility of climate induced hazards from social, gender, cultural and behavioral perspectives. The paper explores the gender specific vulnerability of climate change and possible sustainable livelihoods of coastal people in Bangladesh. This paper finds that climate change is not gender neutral. It affects men and women differently for their roles and responsibilities in the society. Women’s roles are often confined to household labor such as looking after children and ailing people, as well as disaster specific roles such as saving properties from obliteration. These roles make women particularly vulnerable in natural hazards. By contrast, men’s roles often include working outside and so are more likely to escape natural hazards. The paper also finds that woman’s dependency on natural resources is severely affected by climate change variability which causes vulnerability to women in natural hazards. This paper outlines key considerations of gender and climate change that can helps policy makers improve policy and implementation for the diminution of vulnerability of women in Bangladesh as well as developing countries of the world.

Keywords: Climate Change; Climate Change Impacts; Gender Division of Labor; Gender Specific Vulnerability; Coastal People.

Vulnerabilidade específica de género na mudança climática e possíveis modos de vida sustentável de populações costeiras. Um caso do Bangladesh.

RESUMO^§
O artigo aborda a vulnerabilidade específica de género de populações costeiras no que se refere a riscos climáticos no Bangladesh.
Este estudo foi realizado através de métodos qualitativos com algumas ferramentas qualitativas, isto é, entrevistas a informadores chave (KII) e Grupos Foco de Discussão (FGD), por forma a obter pontos de vista vivas vívidos e abrangentes sobre a susceptibilidade específica relativa ao género relativamente a riscos climáticos decorrentes de perspectivas sociais, de género, culturais e comportamentais. O artigo explora a vulnerabilidade específica de género às alterações climáticas e possíveis modos de vida sustentáveis de populações costeiras no Bangladesh. Conclui-se que a mudança climática não é neutra no que se refere ao género. Afecta de forma diferente os homens e as mulheres no que se refere aos papéis que desempenham e às responsabilidades que têm na sociedade. O papel das mulheres limita-se, muitas vezes, ao trabalho doméstico, tal como cuidar das crianças e de pessoas com dificuldade, bem como desempenham funções específicas em situações de desastre, como proteger bens da destruição. Essas funções tornam as mulheres particularmente vulneráveis em caso de ocorrerem desastres naturais. Por outro lado, os papéis dos homens muitas vezes incluem trabalhar fora e por isso são mais propensos a escapar riscos naturais. Conclui-se, também, que a dependência da mulher relativamente aos recursos naturais é gravemente afectado pela variabilidade da mudança climática, o que induz maior vulnerabilidade das mulheres aos riscos naturais. O artigo tece considerações sobre o género e a mudança climática, que podem auxiliar os decisores políticos a melhorar a implementação de políticas tendentes a diminuir a vulnerabilidade das mulheres do Bangladesh e de outros países em desenvolvimento.

Keywords: Alterações Climáticas; Impactos das Mudanças Climáticas; Divisão Sexual do Trabalho; Vulnerabilidade Específica de Género; Populações Costeiras.

 

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