Environmental disasters affect women differently

Natural disasters affect women differently. Marginalized populations  like women, particularly women of color, and those living in under-resourced/exploited parts of the world, like parts of New Orleans, parts of Miami, Barbuda, Haiti and other Caribbean islands are disproportionately and negatively impacted when disasters like hurricanes strike. Studies show that during natural disasters, women are 14 times more likely to die than men and boys. The reason--gender roles which tie women to their homes as well as social and cultural oppression that limit their mobility. According to Oxfam, women are less likely to know how to swim and more likely to wait to ensure the safety or return of their partners, children and other loved ones. The stories of women themselves in the aftermath of earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes and major floods in the U.S. and around the world are testament to how disasters impact their bodies, their safety and security. Sexual assaults, human trafficking, domestic violence, pregnancy complications, urinary tract and other gynecological infections due to the lack of clean water or the ability to dry themselves are all too real. As our environment is speaking to us in ways we cannot ignore, we keep all genders and all people impacted in our prayers, and as "women face disproportionate death tolls due to exacerbated patterns of discrimination that render them fatally vulnerable" (London School of Economics and the University of Essex) we ask, when you think of giving, think of women.