Abstract
This paper explores the roles of cultural and local factors responsible for intensifying the vulnerability of women of coastal regions of Bangladesh. This study describes the climate-induced extreme events and their damages to coastal communities and their people. This qualitative research used a semi-structured questionnaire to interview the fishermen living in the Eastern coastal part of Kalapara Upazila of Patuakhali district in Bangladesh. The people of the study area are highly vulnerable to the climate change impacts due to their limited access to education, income diversity etc. This research shows that the location and level of poverty of the household is an important determinant of a household’s ability to respond to environmental stresses and shocks. The study area has been facing frequent extreme weather events, i.e. storms and cyclones, sea level rising, saltwater intrusion resulting in unproductiveness of agricultural land. This study explores that women have inferior social positions, limited access to education, income, public voice and survival mechanisms because of their socio-economic and cultural structures and climate change creates extra vulnerabilities to this group of societies. It also explores that women are highly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters because of their dress code and extra burdens, and of some factors effective locally. Present research results show that although poor women are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate-induced hazards due to various social and cultural reasons existed in the study areas, they adopt some traditional adaptive measures to reduce climate change risks and hazards.
Presenters
Mozharul IslamAssistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Turkey
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus: Responding to Climate Change as an Emergency
KEYWORDS
CLIMATE CHANGE, POLITICAL ECOLOGY, WOMEN, SOCIO-CULTURAL AND LOCAL FACTORS, BANGLADESH
