What does climate change have to do with gender-based violence?

November 25th marked the day of international gender-based violence prevention and the start of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. This year’s theme is UNITE: "UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls".

It is easy to think that gender-based violence exists in a vacuum, spurred by its unique risk factors. However, we live in an environment which influences every area of our life. Gender-based violence is a more pervasive issue than most people realise, affecting one out of every three women in her lifetime. Studies have shown that this number is exacerbated by climate change.

It is easy to realise why when one of the greatest risks to a woman. Experiencing gender-based violence is economic instability and poverty. The UN estimates that 8 per cent of the world’s female population—will live in extreme poverty by 2030.

Poverty increases with the impact of climate change. This occurs because climate change and natural disasters such as droughts and floods disrupt livelihoods, especially in the agriculture industry which overwhelmingly employs women, especially in small-scale farms that are more vulnerable to natural disasters.

In the Caribbean and Latin America, women are often the primary breadwinner of their households and the main caregiver. Even in instances where there are not, they must have their own income for their economic and physical security.

Economic instability leads to lower education rates as girls drop out of school to support their families. Lower education makes women less economically productive and even more reliant on male members of the family. Poor economic outlook can cause women to enter abusive relationships or to stay in unsafe relationships for their survival or the survival of their children.

Thus, as climate change accelerates, poverty rates amongst women increase disproportionally and with greater risk to their safety.

source: istock images

So, if climate change can lead to gender violence how can action be taken to protect women and the environment?

This year’s theme is 'UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls'. The theme addresses an alarming statistic that 89 per cent of women’s rights and civil society organizations experience a moderate to very high risk of shutting down their operations due to a lack of long-term funding. Only 7 per cent of women’s rights organizations working in gender-based violence prevention operate on long-term funding.

Grassroots organizations are pivotal in mobilizing communities and building trust. Programmes which work particularly well, combine strategies such as identifying power imbalances within communities. One group recorded 'economic violence' present in a relationship, where the husband had total control over the family’s property and finances.

Female agricultural co-ops give women greater financial stability and market access, benefit their community, and increase educational access in rural areas. Additionally, there must be dedicated effort to ensure that all girls have equal access to education. Education can help women to enter industries less vulnerable to climate change.

In these sixteen days of activism against gender-based violence, take a moment to consider the immense repurcussions that would occur should women lose the progress made in areas such as economic independence and education. Households in poverty are more affected by climate change. Therefore investment in climate change prevention is simultaneously an investment toward securing a safer future for women.