Climate Change in Azerbaijan is Putting Women at Increased Risk of Gender-Based Violence — Global Issues

Opinion by Maithreyi Kamalanathan (paris)Friday, November 22, 2024Inter Press Service

In Azerbaijan, excessive climate occasions made worse by world warming and poor environmental administration are heightening the dangers girls and women face. Because the frequency and depth of climate-related disasters improve, extra households are being left susceptible, accelerating the necessity for focused interventions.

Clear World Social Union participated in COP29 to deal with the vital intersection of gender inequality and the local weather disaster, advocating for insurance policies that prioritize the wants and rights of girls and women within the face of environmental challenges.

Clear World Social Union is one among solely two civil society organizations in Azerbaijan offering specialist lodging and assist to girls escaping gender-based violence. They function a shelter within the capital metropolis, Baku, housing as much as 60 girls and kids. A second shelter in Ganja, managed by the Public Union “Tamas,” accommodates 25 residents.

Clear World Social Union collaborates with the worldwide girls’s rights group Equality Now to strengthen the authorized rights of girls and women in Azerbaijan.

What are among the ways in which local weather change is affecting girls and women in Azerbaijan?

Local weather change is unquestionably making girls extra susceptible to gender-based violence. We’ve labored with many ladies from rural areas whose households have misplaced their properties and livelihoods as a result of floods, drought, and different environmental crises. Folks develop into homeless, their lives have been devastated. Earlier than, they’d alternatives to earn cash to enhance their lives, however now they don’t.

That is forcing folks emigrate and is pushing them into city areas. Gender-based violence will increase as a result of when folks develop into poorer, it places stress on households who can’t earn a residing, and males can develop into extra violent. Each day, we obtain lots of of calls from girls, however because of the restricted capability of our shelters, we now have to refuse many.

After excessive local weather occasions, many ladies migrate alone to city facilities like Baku to assist their households. Nonetheless, some would not have the mandatory expertise or information to search out employment and earn cash. Displacement brought on by ecological disaster isolates girls from their social networks and assist techniques, and makes them extra susceptible to abuse. In addition to home violence, we now have seen will increase in business sexual exploitation and trafficking.

How is Azerbaijan’s authorities responding to the affect that local weather change is having on girls within the nation?

In Azerbaijan, there may be some understanding about how local weather change impacts girls and women, however not sufficient. And whereas the federal government is doing a little issues about local weather change, it’s not making the connection between ecological disaster, gender points, and gender-based violence.

Modifications in laws and punishment for baby marriage are getting harder, however I feel the ecological disaster is making the scenario worse. With folks turning into poorer and life getting more durable, this connects to baby marriage. Some households assume if they’ve a woman who they can’t afford to supply meals and schooling for, she must be married off rapidly.

In circumstances of gender-based violence after excessive climate occasions, girls usually do not have monetary assist, don’t know who to show to, and should have psychological points. It’s generally very troublesome to assist these victims as they want free and common help, however there are a lot of we can’t assist due to restricted sources. And when there are floods, there’s a massive improve within the variety of girls needing assist however we can’t present a lot assist.

I’ve not heard of any official methods or motion plans to enhance the scenario for ladies when an ecological disaster occurs. Authorities methods ought to embrace implementation and coordination to deal with girls’s points. With out this, it’s troublesome to cope with these issues.

What motion on local weather change to assist girls is required from governments?

Ladies and women are being instantly and disproportionately affected by the ecological disaster and we now have to boost this with governments and different key stakeholders. There’s a vital alternative to deal with the distinctive challenges by creating and implementing complete frameworks and gender-responsive methods that sort out each the quick and longer-term impacts.

Vocational coaching packages may also help girls adapt to local weather change by equipping them with expertise for sustainable livelihoods. That is notably essential for ladies in rural areas who might have to migrate to city facilities, the place employment alternatives are extra accessible. Offering these instruments empowers girls to rebuild their lives and communities whereas fostering resilience in opposition to climate-related challenges.

It’s equally necessary to extend girls’s participation in decision-making processes associated to local weather insurance policies. By together with girls’s views and experiences, governments can create extra equitable and efficient options. Gender equality should be central to those discussions, guaranteeing girls’s voices form insurance policies addressing ecological and societal impacts.

Strengthening assist techniques is one other important step. Increasing entry to psychological counseling, authorized support, and protected shelters for ladies and women will handle the quick fallout of local weather shocks. Moreover, constructing native capability to fulfill the wants of girls affected by these occasions will guarantee long-term sustainability.

Public consciousness campaigns are obligatory to teach communities in regards to the gendered impacts of local weather change, and ladies must be given details about who they’ll flip to for assist when their rights have been violated. Initiatives can shift societal attitudes, selling a larger understanding of girls’s vulnerabilities and the necessity for protecting measures.

The COP29 summit in Azerbaijan underscored the urgency of integrating gender points into local weather motion. Coordination amongst authorities companies, civil society organizations, and worldwide companions is important to make sure these efforts are efficient, inclusive, and supply girls and women with safety within the face of an evolving local weather disaster.

Maithreyi Kamalanathan, Equality Now

IPS UN Bureau

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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal supply: Inter Press Service

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