Developing gender-sensitive and disability-inclusive guidelines and resource for emergencies
Disasters disproportionately affect people with disabilities. Violence against women and girls, including sexual and psychological violence, has been reported to increase during and after disasters and humanitarian crises. Despite worldwide attention on the devastation caused by the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, and multinational and multiagency-involvement in the humanitarian response, several studies have reported that the needs of women and girls with disabilities were underserved and this group was noted as the ‘worst catered for’ in terms of access to safe and accessible shelters. Studies also reported that by comparison with their pre-earthquake experiences, women and girls with disabilities faced increased psychological, physical, and sexual violence immediately after the earthquake, mostly in and around temporary shelters.
To coincide with a project from Liverpool John Moores University, researchers are holding a workshop on gender-sensitive and disability-inclusive guidelines and practices for emergency responders and key stakeholders.
The workshop aims to build partnerships and the capacity of all involved towards contributing to Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. It will help achieve gender- and disability-inclusive disaster preparedness, reducing disaster impacts on disabled women and girls, and preventing discriminatory policies and practices.