Analee Pepper
As the world comes together for the annual 16 Days of Activism—an international campaign to end gender-based violence (GBV) marked every December—Kenya is amid a climate disaster, which is exacerbating already-high rates of GBV.
An estimated one in three women and girls have experienced gender-based violence and these numbers most likely rise in periods of crisis, such as climate related shocks according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
There is indeed cause for deep concern.
The drought being experienced in 23 counties is a major driver of GBV, with the National Gender and Equality Commission noting that women, girls and other vulnerable groups in the society are being forced into prostitution, forced labour and other forms of exploitation.
Gender inequality contributes to heightened vulnerability of women compared to men in climate-affected areas.
It is widely shown that climate change is negatively impacting women and girls harder, considering their proportionate dependence on threatened natural resources and their higher representation in poverty.
They bear the major responsibility for household supply of water and firewood for cooking in periods of drought; they must walk long distances to access water.
Furthermore, associated pressures on households threaten social security and stability.
An assessment by the ASAL Humanitarian Network found that in times of droughts, women, the elderly and children are most affected because of drought; they are most likely to be left behind when pastoralists move to search for pasture and water and are most likely to have weaker purchasing power.
Considering the linkages between climate crisis and increased risk of GBV for women and girls, organizations such as the World Food Programme (WFP) are exploring ways to help enhance women’s economic empowerment and gender equality in target populations, and thereby minimize the factors of GBV exacerbated by climate change.
Kenya, with its advanced financial systems, presents a myriad of opportunities for interventions, some of which have been tried and are very much scalable.
WFP has developed programmes, for example, around mobile-based micro-insurance and advancing women-focused financing to pastoralists and farmers in communities where the impacts of climate change are likely to be hardest felt.
These can be designed to ensure livestock and crops are protected, women’s income streams are increased, and pastoralists and farmers can better recover from dramatic climate impacts.
Factoring this ensures that programmes targeting pastoralists and farmers are tailored to the unique challenges faced by women in these communities, compared to men, in terms of women’s marginal access to insurance and control over property. There are variations of this and other smallholder farmer support initiatives targeted to female producers in Ethiopia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Madagascar, among others.
Gender discrimination in rights and control over property remains a significant challenge for women farmers and pastoralists, as is the case in many parts of Western Kenya, as well as in many of the other drought-affected Sub-Saharan African countries much in need of support for smallholder farmers’ climate resilience.
This limits their ability to benefit equally from microinsurance services and protect themselves and their families against climate crises. Compounding this is the fact that, where resources are limited and men exercise more control than women, women property owners are highly vulnerable to losing property to male family members and/or community members.
One promising solution to this challenge has been the strengthening of women-led small-scale savings and loans associations.
These provide a platform for women to access financial services, including climate insurance services, which then helps them to better recover from climate shocks and maintain their income, independent of male family members.
When women control their own property, incomes, and are economically self-sufficient, they are less likely to be impacted by GBV, or to engage in negative coping mechanisms, such as survival sex or child marriage. Climate-response plans must thus include actions and funding to empower women and promote gender equality.
Climate resilience can also be supported by strengthening national and community-based systems that prevent and mitigate GBV and ensure access to GBV-related assistance.
Preventing and mitigating GBV can strengthen women and girls’ resilience. More efforts can be applied to advancing climate resilience approaches with a gender lens.
Analee Pepper – Regional Gender Specialist for the UN World Food Programme in East & Central Africa
