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January 11, 2005
Indian women in high water
Women and girls are particularly vulnerable in the aftermath of the devastating December 26 tsunami.
Photo courtesy of Karen Robinson, Panos Pictures.

Even as the world reels from the devastating impact of the December 26 tsunami, a second wave of the disaster is being felt across the ravaged Indian Ocean region. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to the effects of this second wave, which carries widespread malnutrition, illness and violence. If relief efforts are not refocused to take their urgent needs into account, this devastating disaster will continue to claim many more lives in the days and weeks to come.

As many as 150,000 people lost their lives to the tsunami, and an estimated five million more are now struggling to gain access to clean water, food, sanitation and shelter in order to survive.

Among those millions are at least 150,000 women who-in addition to coping with their own trauma, injury and illness-are currently pregnant or facing complications of pregnancy, according to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. An estimated 50,000 women will give birth in the next three months; all are at risk of premature delivery, trauma-induced miscarriage and the consequences of unsafe abortion. With health-care infrastructure destroyed, medical equipment in short supply and support networks torn apart, the lives of these women and their children depend on whether they can get to emergency obstetric care in time.

Less acute but nonetheless critical health and hygiene needs are currently faced by the majority of women in the region. In many of the affected communities, women who lost all possessions do not have access even to the most basic clothing items required for participation in public life. Inadequate access to feminine hygiene supplies-such as tampons and sanitary napkins-further threatens their personal dignity and hinders their mobility, in some cases preventing them from accessing other needed care and supplies for themselves and their families.

This is particularly crippling for the many women who, having lost their husbands or partners, have been forced to assume the primary burden of responsibility for their families. As heads of household, these women must often overlook their own needs in order to ensure the survival of their remaining family members.

In these desperate conditions, women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and violence. As in other crisis situations, many women will have no other recourse than to barter sex for food and other supplies necessary for survival. Without safe shelter, the support and protection of their partners and families, or authorities to turn to, many more will be subjected to sexual violence. According to Women's eNews, numerous incidents of rape and violence against women have already been reported.

At a minimum, recommendations for addressing the critical reproductive-health and other needs of women and girls in the region include:

Safe abortion services are also critically needed. The issues that make access to safe abortion care salient for women at any time are heightened in a crisis situation such as this. Disconnected from their families and community-support structures, their economic situation and future uncertain, unable to access familiar health services or regular contraceptive supplies, and likely targets of sexual violence, women in the region are at increased risk of unwanted pregnancies and recourse to unsafe abortions.

In initial response to the crisis, UNFPA has made available $3 million for the provision of the most basic maternity and hygiene support for women throughout the region. UNFPA is appealing for additional funds to support the reestablishment of basic reproductive-health care in the most affected communities in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Bibliography

1. Otsea, Karen. 1999. Prioritizing reproductive health for refugees. Initiatives in Reproductive Health Policy 3(1).

2. Pikul, Corrie. 7 January 2005. As tsunami recedes, women's risks appear. Women's eNews. Available online.

3. UNFPA. 31 December 2004. Women survivors of Indian Ocean disaster face urgent needs, warns UNFPA. UNFPA Press Release. Available online.

4. UNFPA. 6 January 2005. UNFPA appeals to donors for $28 million for women and youth affected by tsunami. UNFPA Press Release. Available online.

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258