to emergency assistance . In Sri Lanka , ration cards were registered under the husband ’ s name , which caused difficulties for some women to obtain access to benefits . Poor design of temporary shelter areas and Internally Displaced Persons ( IDP ) camp latrines also often pose security threats to women . Following the Indian Ocean tsunami , incidents of sexual assault were reported in toilet areas which lacked adequate lighting , and women in Aceh faced increased risk of sexual violence . Furthermore , designated facilities for washing sanitary cloths during menstruation are not always provided in a camp environment . Yet , “ Cultural taboos exist against washing these cloths in public and women need to be comfortable while caring for their basic needs in the camp environment ,” ( Oxfam ( 2005 ), p . 10 ). Gender considerations are important across all contexts , yet often overlooked , even following the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake / tsunami . According to the Aid & International Development Forum , “ In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Sendai in 2011 , evacuation centres did not respond to women ’ s needs as they were mostly run by men ; effectively , women had no place to change or breastfeed , had no separate bathrooms and lacked sanitary products .”
As such , it is important to incorporate gender considerations for both response operations ( HA / DR ) and for prevention efforts – known as disaster risk reduction ( DRR ) – and to work directly alongside women . Often , women and women ’ s groups are involved in both disaster response and prevention , but their work is not acknowledged or included in formal decision-making processes , policies , or programs . “ This gap is evident around the world . According to a 2009 Huairou Commission survey , women ’ s civil society organizations active in DRR in Latin America , the Caribbean , Asia , Africa , and the Middle East and North Africa region felt excluded from national emergency preparedness and other disaster risk reduction programs ,” (“ Disaster Risk Management ,” p . 11 ). Efforts these women make to participate in disaster relief or risk reduction are often complicated by long-term social implications of high female disaster fatality rates . A gender imbalance post-disaster may greatly multiply surviving women ’ s domestic workloads if surviving men do not take on household and childcare responsibilities . Surviving men may also place more restrictions on surviving women ’ s mobility and visibility . Strains from natural disasters also at times exacerbate domestic violence and abuse of vulnerable populations , especially women and girls .
Several frameworks were created in response to these disasters and their gender implications . The landmark Hyogo Framework for Action ( HFA ) was formed after the Indian Ocean disaster , focusing on DDR for the decade 2005-2015 . It emphasized bringing “ gender perspective and cultural diversity ” to the forefront by integrating it into disaster risk management policies and decisions , including risk assessment , early warning , information , and education . However , in the years following the HFA , progress on gender integration in planning has been quite slow – with only 20 % of countries by 2009 relying substantially on gender integration as a progress driver ( 30 % by 2013 ). According to the April 2014 paper “ Towards the Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction ( HFA2 ),” one problem with the approach of the HFA was that it focused on vulnerability reduction as opposed to capacity development ; this risks limiting the capabilities of all societal stakeholders for reducing risks instead of “ enhancing the strengths of the community reserves ,” ( p . 6 ).
An attempt to improve upon this framework was made in 2015 . Four years following the 2011 Japan earthquake / tsunami , the Third UN Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was held in Sendai in March 2015 , exploring the role of women in the post-2015 agenda on DRR . The Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-2030 was formed , in part identifying gaps and improvements in engendering and mainstreaming gender into DRR . Some improvements have been made since this framework was instigated . In 2011 Sendai , women composed only 10 % of DRR roles in the city . Since the disaster , Japan has incorporated more women as representatives in prefectural disaster management councils to ensure that they play a key role . Thanks to the Sendai Framework , other nations are also asking the question – What is the role of women in reducing disaster risk , and how can they be more fully included in the future ?
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