“Women Get Things Done”: An Examination of Tongan Women’s Participation in Disaster Risk Reduction

Abstract

The policies and practices of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) are commonly utilised to mitigate and reduce the impact of natural hazards on a vulnerable population or individual. However, recent scholarship has concluded that mainstream DRR practices and policies tend to have little recognition or mention of women’s issues, experiences or needs. For many reasons, including inequitable laws, poverty, restriction on freedom and socially constructed gender roles, women are one of the most vulnerable groups in society and are therefore one of the most vulnerable groups in disasters. Despite the recognition that vulnerability is gendered, women are rarely included in policy making or DRR projects. Consequently, the root causes of gendered vulnerability are not addressed, and actions and initiatives for DRR are ineffective. In the last 20 years, there has been more discussion around this issue and many international frameworks for DRR now recommend that women are explicitly included in policy making and project planning. This thesis seeks to evaluate how policies inform practice in DRR, using a case study of Tonga. Specifically, it reviews the state of gender-inclusive policies and plans in Tonga, and assesses how they have been implemented in practice. The research is primarily based on a series of interviews which were held over two months in Tonga in late 2017, with a further analysis of the relevant policies. The research shows that women in Tonga are extremely active in community level DRR, but are not well represented in national DRR policies. Furthermore, though Tongan women are often constrained by the cultural norms and laws which can be restrictive, they are able to excel at managing and participating in community level initiatives. This thesis proves that despite little to no recognition of their presence in national DRR policies, and the many cultural factors which restrict their opportunities, Tongan women have become key stakeholders the community, and their contributions are valued and respected. It suggests that the commonly held view that national level policies are the primary mechanism for initiating gender inclusive practices at the local level is overstated. In Tonga, changes are more effective when made at the local level, with the support of non-governmental organisations. The study thus has implications for how practitioners and policy makers assess the status of women and design their DRR projects accordingly.