A scoping review of rapid-onset climate-related disasters & gender-based violence against women

The effects of climate-related disasters hold a syndemic or multiplicative effect on exacerbating pre-existing social epidemics of gender-based violence against women (GBVAW). With increasing patterns in severity and frequency of rapid-onset climate-related disasters anticipated to worsen due to climate change, GBVAW poses a serious threat to exacerbating women's socioeconomic and health disparities. However, limited literature exists that synthesizes understanding of factors that shape women's vulnerability to gender-based violence in relation to rapid-onset climate-related disasters. In this paper, we aim to identify key factors that shape women's vulnerability to gender-based violence induced by rapid-onset natural disasters through the use of scoping literature review. Using content analysis, ten key factors were found to shape women's vulnerability to GBVAW through the syndemic effects of rapid-onset climate-related disasters including: 1) pre-existing gender inequalities, 2) rigid gendered roles and labor, 3) overwhelmed systemic infrastructure capacity, 4) displacement, 5) loss of social network and social capital, 6) cyclical poverty traps, 7) water and food insecurity, 8) gendered stereotype depictions of women in mass communication, 9) male-centered disaster relief efforts, and 10) weathering conditions to women's health. Based on the key factors identified, the current state of existing literature and gaps in integrating mitigation of GBVAW within climate risk management frameworks are discussed, as well as recent legal pathways and remedies that may support the mitigation of GBVAW in times of rapid-onset climate-related disasters.