Lessons to be Learned from the Perspective of Women and Gender in Disasters; The Case of the Haiti and Japan Earthquake

Abstract

In the world we live in, we frequently encounter disasters. Every day, loss of life and property is experienced due to disasters such as landslides, floods, earthquakes, avalanches, wars, industrial accidents and epidemics that occur in different geographies of the world. However, people also experience psychological and sociological destructions. Due to the disasters in the last century, millions of people lost their lives and billions of dollars in economic losses were experienced. The level of development of countries and their impact from disasters have become important in terms of resilience. A fundamental and complementary element of the efforts to create a disaster-resilient society under the leadership of the United Nations is the gender perspective. International research data reveal that women and men are affected by disasters in different ways in different geographies of the world and the variables and differences in coping mechanisms. Women, who are considered to be strong actors in integrated disaster administration, have undertaken contributing roles with their skills and cognitive awareness. Women may face vulnerable and disadvantaged situations in disasters due to their gender roles and social status. On the other hand, they can contribute to every stage of integrated disaster administration with their experience in disasters. In this context, being able to look at disasters from a gender perspective and learn lessons from experience will ensure success in disaster administration. In this study, the problems faced by women in disasters, especially the Haiti earthquake and the Japan earthquake, will be examined and solutions will be presented by evaluating the lessons learned.

Keywords

• Disaster
• Women
• Gender
• Earthquake
• Integrated Disaster Administration.

Afetlerde Kadın ve Toplumsal Cinsiyet Perspektifi ile Çıkarılması Gereken Dersler (Haiti ve Japonya Depremi Örneği)

Öz

İçinde yaşadığımız dünyada afetler ile sık sık karşılaşmaktayız. Her gün dünyanın farklı coğrafyalarında meydana gelen heyelan, sel, deprem, çığ, savaşlar, endüstriyel kazalar, salgın hastalıklar gibi afetler dolayısıyla can ve mal kayıpları yaşanmaktadır. Bununla birlikte insanlar psikolojik ve sosyolojik olarak da yıkımlar yaşamaktadır. Son yüzyılda yaşanan afetler dolayısıyla milyonlarca insan hayatını kaybetmiş ve milyarlarca dolar ekonomik kayıplar yaşanmıştır. Ülkelerin gelişmişlik düzeyi ve afetlerden etkilenme durumları dirençlilik ilişkisi noktasında önemli hale gelmiştir. Birleşmiş Milletler öncülüğünde yürütülen afetlere dirençli toplum oluşturulmasını hedefleyen çalışmaların temel ve tamamlayıcı bir unsuru toplumsal cinsiyet perspektifidir. Uluslararası araştırma verileri, dünyanın farklı coğrafyalarında kadının ve erkeğin afetlerden farklı şekillerde etkilendiklerini ve başa çıkma mekanizmalarındaki değişkenleri ve farklılıkları ortaya koymaktadır. Bütünleşik afet yönetiminde güçlü aktörler olarak kabul edilen kadınlar, sahip oldukları becerileri ve bilişsel farkındalıkları ile katkı sağlayıcı roller üstlenmişlerdir. Kadınlar toplumsal cinsiyet rolleri ve sosyal statüleri sebebiyle afetlerde savunmasız ve dezavantajlı durumlar ile karşı karşıya kalabilirler. Buna karşın afetlere ilişkin deneyimleri ile bütünleşik afet yönetiminin her aşamasına katkı sağlayabilirler. Bu çerçevede afetlere toplumsal cinsiyet perspektifiyle bakabilmek ve deneyimlerden dersler çıkarabilmek afet yönetiminde başarıyı sağlayacaktır. Bu çalışmada, Haiti depremi ve Japonya depremi özelinde kadınların afetlerde karşılaştıkları sorunlar incelenecek ve öğrenilmiş dersler değerlendirilerek çözüm önerileri sunulacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Afet
• Kadın
• Toplumsal Cinsiyet
• Deprem
• Bütünleşik Afet Yönetimi

Kaynakça

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