Gender, Climate Change and Media: Perceptions of Pakistani Women Regarding Natural Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction

Abstract

In the growing field of research on the impacts of climate change on human populations, there is an absence of academic study on the viewpoints of Pakistani women. By geographical location, Pakistan is central to concerns about climate change and natural hazards, the future consequences of which may affect billions of people across the Asian continent. At the same time, it is becoming clear that many climate change effects are gender-specific, impacting most heavily on those women who are already socially and economically disempowered. However, few studies have been done about women‘s experiences before, during, and after natural hazards, nor how they perceive conditions, receive information, or participate in dialogue about anthropogenic climate change. This study aims to give voice to literate and semi-literate, urban and rural Pakistani women as a significant source of knowledge and risk reduction potential regarding climate change, natural hazards, and disasters. A triangulation of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to gauge Pakistani women‘s awareness of anthropogenic climate change, discover their usage and the effectiveness of media/non-media sources of information, and assess their current and potential future participation in climate change intervention, mitigation, and rehabilitation. Interviews conducted with academic, political, and policy-making experts confirmed that the opinions, knowledge, and ideas of Pakistani women are currently missing from the climate change conversation. The results of the study reveal that Pakistani women from all levels of society are a tremendously under-utilized resource in the struggle to address global climate change and its consequential disaster-related harm and loss. The results of the study suggest that creating awareness and providing systematic education to Pakistani women through the media about climate change, natural hazards and disaster risk reduction, as well as creating and empowering culture/gender-appropriate communication pathways, could significantly mitigate and reduce the current and future destructive impacts of climate change and natural hazards.