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This thesis documents the first Australian research to interview women about their experiences of domestic violence after catastrophic disaster. As such research is rare in developed countries, it addresses a gap in the disaster literature. Interviews with 30 women in two shires in Victoria confirmed that domestic violence increased following the B...
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... Violence against women also increased during the pandemic due to the introduction of increased risk factors (Usta et al., 2021). It is well known that violence against women and children increases in humanitarian and disaster settings (Care International, 2017;Peterman et al., 2020), such as the Black Saturday fires in Australia (Parkinson, 2014). Indeed, many women make their first report of violence in the aftermath of a disaster (Parkinson, 2014). ...
... It is well known that violence against women and children increases in humanitarian and disaster settings (Care International, 2017;Peterman et al., 2020), such as the Black Saturday fires in Australia (Parkinson, 2014). Indeed, many women make their first report of violence in the aftermath of a disaster (Parkinson, 2014). It is theorised that this is because of the introduction of increased risk factors for violence in the household, such as trauma, alcohol and other drugs, relationship conflict and food insecurity. ...
... Case study research can demonstrate the ways these structures of silencing materialise in specific experiences of climate-induced distress. For example, Debra Parkinson's (2014) research found that women's experiences of domestic violence following the Black Saturday Bushfires in Australia (in 2009) were systematically silenced by families, communities, and social services, in part through the discourse of 'recovery' that sought to frame everything happening after that day as an upward trajectory of positive progress. Brought together, these diverse findings demonstrate the wider ways in which caring about or being harmed by climate change and its multifaceted impacts is made taboo. ...
This paper explores the process of feeling climate injustice. It aims to situate climate distress as an issue of justice, in order to generate more politically accountable and empowering responses. It firstly situates climate anxiety, solastalgia and climate disaster trauma as symptoms of affective climate violence, where harm that could have been prevented was instead consciously and systematically exacerbated by fossil fuelled political regimes. It articulates witnessing as a practice of affective climate justice, an approach that would recognise climate distress as violence, and offer support, apology and redress for this violence, including through seeking to prevent future climate change. However, the second section outlines how, in perverse efforts to maintain fossil fuel interests, climate distress is often further amplified through practices of greenhouse gaslighting – denying, deriding and dismissing people's experiences of harm. Greenhouse gaslighting is outlined as a patriarchal practice of emotional abuse that is enabled by and seeks to perpetuate white-colonial-extractivism. Thirdly, the paper argues that even within progressive circles, current efforts to witness climate distress potentially fail to enact affective climate justice due to discourses that centre whiteness and privilege, rather than recognising and responding to the different and unequal forms of affective climate violence experienced by diverse peoples.
... Two studies of men's violence against women after floods and earthquakes in Iran (Sohrabizadeh 2016) and bushfires in Australia (Parkinson 2015) show remarkable similarities. This article details author observations and compares the findings and the complexities faced by the researchers in conducting these studies. ...
... This paper contributes by comparing 2 very different countries. While both studies (Parkinson 2015, Sohrabizadeh 2016) had research objectives, the objective of this paper is to compare the findings of these research papers and outline the difficulties faced in conducting these studies in these countries. ...
Sexual violence is largely absent from studies on violence against women in disasters. The role of men in perpetrating violence against women is overlooked or excused and women are usually blamed in both countries. A review of 2 studies of men’s violence against women after floods and earthquakes in Iran and bushfires in Australia show remarkable similarities. Although cultural contexts and the way gender inequality is established and demonstrated are different, these studies reveal unexpected parallels. The context of disaster lays it bare. Participants of both studies were disaster-affected people in Iran and Australia who revealed the taboos that prevent women speaking of violence that is exacerbated in a disaster context. Men play important roles in preventing and responding to violence against women as the result of their responsibilities and positions at the household and community levels. The objective of this paper was to compare the findings from these studies and consider the difficulties faced in conducting studies related to the roles of men and women roles during and after disaster events.
... Culture influences attitudes towards risk, but also works through general social behavior and norms that put women at risk from disasters. Parkinson (2014) writes that often women do not have the courage to escape or evacuate from disasters without receiving permission and guidance from their husbands or other elders. This shows male privilege and discrimination against women as local cultural issues. ...
Disaster management is a global challenge, but disasters do not affect men and women equally. In most of the world’s disasters, more females are impacted than males, and in Afghanistan the disparity between female and male victims is even greater. This study identifies and maps the relationships between the factors that make Afghan rural women more vulnerable to natural hazard-induced disasters. Data for this study were obtained through focus group discussions with rural women and men, as well as person-to-person interviews with employees of government and nongovernmental organizations at the national and local levels in Afghanistan. The study uses Grounded Theory and Interpretive Structural Modeling, not widely used before for this type of study, to analyze the data collected and to map the factors of vulnerability identified and their relationships. In agreement with previous studies, our findings show that insufficient disaster education, inadequate protection measures, and powerful cultural issues, both pre- and post-disaster, increase women’s vulnerability during and after disasters. In particular, cultural issues play a role after disasters by affecting women’s security, access to disaster aid, and health care. The study also found that perception regarding these cultural issues and how they affect women during disasters differs among men and women. Finally, by using Interpretive Structural Modeling, we show how the importance of the factors and their interrelationships change in pre-disaster and post-disaster situations. We conclude the article with some policy recommendations such as finding ways to allow women to participate in disaster planning activities and decision-making processes related to disaster risk reduction, as well as securing dedicated funds for the mainstreaming of gender in disaster risk reduction policies in Afghanistan.
... Extreme weather events also pose threats to public infrastructure such as transport and roads, which provide emergency evacuation routes and access to public health and other community services relied on during emergencies. They threaten safe water supplies and impact on electricity and communications infrastructure (19). ...
... Ongoing environmental change and more frequent and severe weather events, combined with the social and economic impacts of climate change, increase the risk of mental illness and stress (13,14,18,19). Increased levels of anxiety, depression, family violence, and alcohol and drug abuse often follow weather disasters, and can have ongoing effects on children and adults. ...
... Vulnerable populations will suffer disproportionate adverse health impacts of climate change, with people with preexisting medical conditions, older people, young, disabled, socio-economically disadvantaged, isolated and Indigenous Australians identified as being particularly vulnerable (1,4,8,9,16,19,24,25). ...
The Queensland Government committed to implementing the Queensland Climate Adaptation Strategy (Q-CAS) in 2017. This Human Health and Wellbeing Climate Change Adaptation Plan (H-CAP) was developed as a component of the Q-CAS. The National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) and the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA) worked with key stakeholders in the health and wellbeing sector in Queensland to develop the H-CAP.
The goal of the H-CAP is to support human health and wellbeing services to be innovative and resilient in managing the risks associated with a changing climate, and to harness the opportunities provided by responding to the challenges of climate change. It provides a preliminary climate change adaptation framework and guidance for stakeholders across health care, aged care, and childcare services.
This document outlines the process to develop the H-CAP and describes its scope. It provides an overview of existing policy, and outlines policy drivers and enablers, and case studies to inspire action. It also summarises the concerns of stakeholders in Queensland about the health impacts of climate change, in addition to the barriers, opportunities and pathways forward they saw for climate adaptation.
The consultation revealed concerns among stakeholders that are consistent with multiple lines of evidence: there is a policy gap in relation to addressing the health impacts of climate change.
... Hotter temperatures place outdoor and manual labourers at increased risk of heatrelated illnesses, work accidents and death, while the increased incidence of extreme weather events increases occupational risks for emergency services 43,44,45 MeNTAL iLLNess AND sTress Ongoing environmental change and more frequent and severe weather events, combined with the social and economic impacts of climate change, increase the risk that Australians will experience mental illness and stress 41,42,46,47,48 AerOALLergeNs AND Air POLLuTiON Increases in atmospheric temperatures may lengthen the pollen season and alter chemical reactions of some air pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter, increasing exposure to aeroallergens and aggravating conditions such as allergic rhinitis, as well as heart and lung conditions including asthma, while increasing the risk of mortality 41 In addition, there are serious and immediate health threats associated with the production and combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas. International estimates suggest air pollution from coal-fired electricity generation is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths globally each year. 1 In Australia, the health impacts from coal-fired power generation is estimated to cost $2.6 billion annually. ...
... vuLNerAbLe POPuLATiONs Vulnerable populations will suffer disproportionately the adverse health impacts of climate change in Australia, with people with pre-existing medical conditions, older people, young, disabled, socioeconomically disadvantaged and Indigenous Australians identified as being particularly vulnerable. Climate change places undue burden on those least responsible and least able to respond 3,4,37,38,39,46,48,53,54 FRAMEWORK FOR A NATIONAL STRATEGY ON CLIMATE, HEALTH AND WELL-BEING FOR AUSTRALIA ...
A nation-wide consultation with healthcare stakeholders in 2016 revealed serious concerns
at the lack of national leadership to address the serious and increasing public health risks posed by climate change. There is a clear expectation that the Commonwealth Government provide leadership for a national response to address climate change and health, and a rm conviction that a national public policy framework is required to coordinate action across government portfolios and at all levels
of government.
While important actions are being taken at the state/ territory and local level, a coordinated national effort is required to ensure that Australia is well prepared to protect the health and well-being of communities from the impacts of climate change.
This Framework for a National Strategy on Climate, Health and Well-being for Australia provides
a roadmap to support the Commonwealth Government in taking a leadership role in protecting the health and well-being of Australian communities from climate change, and in ful lling its international obligations under the Paris Agreement.
... 4,5,6 Bushfires and photochemical smog from anthropogenic pollution contribute substantially to atmospheric levels of highly toxic ozone and PM, also leading to cardiopulmonary mortality. 8 1,3,7,12,14,15,17,18,21,24 Studies of newly settled refugees in Sydney ...
This paper first reviews the health impacts of climate change in Australia. It then examines the current national climate change mitigation and adaptation policies, especially the extent to which they acknowledge and respond to the impacts of climate change on human health and the health sector. Finally, the key elements of a National Strategy for Climate, Health and Well-being are outlined.
Afetin beraberinde getirdiği zorluklarla baş edebilmek için öncelikle afetten etkilenen bireylerin psikososyal gereksinimlerini belirlemek önemlidir. Afetin yarattığı yıkımın kadınların yaşam deneyimleri ve gereksinimleri üzerinden değerlendirildiği takdirde politika, strateji ve planların cinsiyete duyarlı olabileceği fikri araştırmanın amacını oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma, nitel araştırma tekniklerinden fenomenolojik yöntem kullanılarak tasarlanmıştır. Araştırmada Muğla İli Marmaris İlçesine bağlı Osmaniye Mahallesinde çıkan orman yangınında evini kaybeden Kerime’nin yangın sırasında ve sonrasındaki yaşam deneyimleri ve psikososyal gereksinimleri toplumsal cinsiyet bağlamında birebir derinlemesine görüşme aracılığıyla keşfedilmeye çalışılmıştır. Kerime kırk altı yaşında, evli ve üç çocuk annesidir. Orman yangınında evini ve ahırını kaybetmiştir. Evini kaybetmesinin ardından belediye tarafından tahsis edilen konteynerde kalamayacağını düşündüğünden ablasının eskiden yaşadığı eve yerleşmiştir. Yaşamını ailesi ile orada devam ettirmektedir. Kerime ile yapılan görüşmenin içerik analizinin yapılmasının ardından kadınların karşılaştıkları psikososyal sorunlar, fiziksel mekân ve alan deneyimleri, toplumsal cinsiyet odağında kadınların durumları, psikososyal hizmet beklentileri olmak üzere dört adet tema elde edilmiştir. Temalar ayrı başlıklar halinde yorumlanmıştır. Temalar bir bütün olarak tartışma kısmında değerlendirilmiştir. Araştırmanın bulguları, Kerime’nin özel alan, sosyal alan ve kamusal alan dahil olmak üzere her alanda mekânsal değişim ve cinsiyet temelli eşitsizlikler sebebiyle, ekonomik, sosyal ve politik bağlamda kaynaklara erişimin tam sağlanamamasından dolayı dezavantajlı bir konumda bulunduğunu, afet sonrası hizmetlere erişim noktasında da yetersiz kaldığını göstermektedir. Afet sonrası politikaların geliştirilmesine katkı sunmak amacıyla, afetlerden etkilenen kadınların ihtiyaçlarının, deneyimlerinin toplumsal cinsiyet bağlamında anlaşılmasına katkı sağlayacak çalışmalara ihtiyaç olduğu görülmektedir.
Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand's submission makes 45 recommendations to the Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence undertaken by the Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs. Of particular note is the emphasis on the need to unify the experience of family, domestic and sexual violence with the current design and implementation of the systems response. Including, the recognition that violence occurs along a continuum whereby multiple forms of violence ranging from non-physical, coercive control, physical violence 'seep into one another'.
The NSW Joint Select Committee on Coercive Control was established to inquire into and report on coercive control in intimate relationships. The inquiry arises amid growing desire both in Australia and internationally for improved justice system responses to coercive control. Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand's submission makes five key recommendations in considering a response in NSW.
