Climate crisis impacts violation of sexual and reproductive health rights for women and girls. Gender based violence increases in times of crisis and climate crisis is no different. In Climate crisis gender inequalities along with other social inequalities are exacerbated thereby, intensifying women and girls’ vulnerability in the society.
In the last 20 years, the number of climate-related disasters has doubled, women and girls are more vulnerable to disasters in terms of the impact and aftermath, it takes them a while to recover. A report by the UN women on Feminist Climate Justice indicates that the 2022 drought increased child marriages and cases of Intimate Partner Violence increased in Africa.
Evidence shows that as communities are plunged into recurrent climate crises, tensions between partners and within families rise and gender-based violence escalates. Rates of child marriages are increasing in places experiencing environmental stress.
Droughts have been found to increase son preference and sexselective abortion as well as the likelihood of girls dropping out of school. With the negative impact of climate change, women and girls across the world now face a wholesale reversal of their human rights.
Extreme economic inequalities caused by climate change has caused a wide spread economic insecurity trapping millions of women and girls in poverty and hunger.
Today, 10% of women are living in poverty globally. By Mid – Century, (2050) in the case of a worst-case scenario, climate change may push up to 158 million women and girls into poverty (16 million more than the total number of men and boys).
Globally, laws, policies and social norms that are gender discriminative hinders women access to resources, finances and agricultural land and thus when the weather patterns change, disrupting infrastructure and public services that affect food production, women are less likely to adapt to their livelihoods, recover and rebuild.
Keeping this data in mind, it is therefore important to advocate for climate justice especially for vulnerable groups like women and girls. Climate justice should recognize and respect diverse identities, experiences and forms of knowledge, the redistribution of resources and the representation and meaningful participation of women and marginalized groups in climate related decision-making.