Olive Burrows, Nation Media’s TV presenter came under fire several months ago when she dared address how climate change and gender are interlinked. Kenyans on Twitter, who shared their comments barely created time to listen to the panellists’ views but went ahead to trash the conversation.
Arguably, Kenyans on Twitter feel like societal matters are being examined through a feminist lens, even on matters that they feel affect all persons neutrally. In most of their arguments, everyone is affected by drought, famine and food shortage in drought-prone areas, and they feel it’s unfair to single out how a particular gender is affected by all this.
Kenyans on Twitter(KOT), infamously say that ‘women like making everything about them’ but this statement is misinformed.
While their blanket concerns make sense on a surface level, it’s rather paramount that an intersectional approach and gender lens are employed while addressing issues of climate change. By being intersectional, it means that we contextualize our differences, privileges, gender, religion, oppressions, and values and in the African continent, our geographical and ethnic standpoints while addressing climate change issues. It also means that we acknowledge both men and women are affected by climate change but women are adversely affected.
The impact of climate change adversely affects women, because they are highly dependent on natural resources more than men. How? You may wonder. To begin with, women in drought-prone areas are most likely to be in family settings that uphold gender roles, which means that all the domestic work that pertains to cleaning, cooking and feeding is relegated to women and girls. As a result, during periods of drought, women have to work extra hard because of the scarcity of resources. The workload is multiplied because they have to walk long distances in search of water and wood so that they can be able to perform their domestic duties.
It’s also important to note that while their workload has been increased, the burden of care still rests on women. After the long treks that are quite time-consuming and tiring, they still have to take care of children and be up to par with their domestic work. Consequently, their economic status counties to dwindle and their poverty levels get worse. Because when will you work when you are out looking for water and how much can you do when you are already tired? These gendered roles are also unpaid; because societies believe that its the obligation of women and therefore, their time and hard work are never compensated. This lack of compensation explains why women are the world’s largest poor population.
These women and girls are therefore expected to walk for long distances to fetch water to ensure the proper functioning of the home. Essentially, we all need water to cook, clean, and bathe children and for personal hygiene. Going on these long treks in search of water poses a great physical risk to these women who could be raped, defiled or killed. Regrettably, some of these women are exposed to cases of gender-based violence from their husbands who think they probably aren’t doing enough.
Girls’ education is compromised in these instances because gender roles dictate that the responsibility to care for and run the home be done by the female gender. Girls are bound to miss school because they had to walk for long distances to fetch water and firewood, to prepare meals and to keep the home in order. Food and water are prioritized, therefore, attending school is left for when it’s convenient.
Additionally, incidents of early marriages and female genital mutilation (FGM) are rampant during periods of drought as families try to seek solutions to their problems. Most families resort to marrying off their young daughters in exchange for cows and other essentials. As a consequence, girls are circumcised in preparation for marriage and their education is consequentially interrupted.
Besides this, water is an essential need to ensure proper menstrual hygiene and therefore that means that their menstrual health is in the gutters during these periods of drought. Women are born nurturers and naturally, they prioritize family needs over their own. If a woman gained access to water, her top priority would be to offer to the children or prepare meals and personal health. Girls rarely attend school while on their periods because of a lack of sanitary products and even worse, when water is lacking.
Dry taps, rivers, boreholes and oasis doesn’t only spell doom for women but poses a risk to their sexual and reproductive health. Drought-prone areas are also impacted by absolute abject poverty therefore, access to menstrual health products is a privilege. As such, these women depend on reusable menstrual health products that cannot be maintained without reliable access to water. This challenge is felt severely by women, as compared to their male counterparts who are at ease to move with their animals in search of greener pastures.
Maternal healthcare is also a matter of concern because areas that have excess heat could lead to stillbirths or low birth weights. As a result, infant and maternal mortality are rampant in areas severely affected by climate change, because even access to pre and post-natal care cannot be guaranteed. Besides these, women’s economic activity is severely impacted because they make up for most agricultural labourers and in cases of drought, their sources of income are strained.
The impact of climate change differs according to many factors, but it’s quite evident that no matter the situation, women are the most affected. As the largest percentage of the world’s poor, it’s important to acknowledge that if gender justice is not attained, achieving climate justice could be impossible because the most affected group still lags on basic human rights needs.
Therefore, pooling together resources and minds to have conversations and interventions to bring forth gender approaches to address climate change is not merely a feminist issue, it’s a point of concern for everyone. We are moving towards a fair, just and equitable world and it would be hypocritical to assume that climate justice can be achieved without achieving gender justice.
Check out
The Impact Of Drought On Women And Girls In Kenya
Environment: 8 Ways You Can Fight Climate Change And Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Agriculture: Why Farmers Should Add Unique Crops To Diversify Their Farms
