Mainstreaming gender in disaster (review)

The results of literature review show that the socially constructed gender-specific vulnerability of females lead to the relatively higher female disaster mortality rates compared to men; the disaster impact differ across economic class, ethnicity, gender and other factors; natural disasters exacerbate previously existing patterns of discrimination that render females more vulnerable to the fatal impact of disasters. The adverse impact of disasters on females relative to men vanishes with rising socio-economic status of women. However, more inter-disciplinary research is needed to fully understand the interplay between mortality and gender in the presence of natural disasters. More research is needed to fully understand why and how disaster strength interacts with female mortality.