Gendered Concerns in Coastal Disasters: An Analysis of Women’s Political Subordination and Prospects for Empowerment

Coastal areas are currently deemed highly vulnerable to a host of disasters, more so in the context of global environmental change. However, studies show that gender issues are often ignored during disasters despite the fact that women have different needs and capabilities than men at these times. Women’s vulnerability during and after disasters is attributed to their political, economic and cultural conditions, underscoring multiple responsibilities and widely perceived inferior status vis-à-vis men. The main arguments in this paper are supported by the results of interdisciplinary, mixed methods research on women’s standpoints or experiences of gender bias, following the 2006 M/T Solar I oil spill in the coasts off Guimaras Island in the Philippines. It was observed that women’s political subordination was evident because their role in fishing was very minimally recognised. Women were often uninformed and rarely represented in decision-making following the oil spill disaster. This under-representation exacerbated the coastal women’s disadvantaged conditions as institutional interventions seldom addressed their needs and concerns.