Women-led Climate Justice
Climate change is one of the defining crises of our time, and people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are affected by this crisis. The effects of climate change amount to a global public health, economic, humanitarian, and gender equality disaster.
Regina Charumar, an environmental activist and university professor in Mozambique, is working to raise awareness of climate change in her country—and to advocate for solutions that center women’s needs.
She carries the whole family. She bears the burden for everything at home.
Women and girls disproportionately bear the brunt of suffering from climate-related events. And yet their needs and voices are systemically set aside when working to mitigate climate impact. This is forcing generations of women and girls to develop a resiliency previously unknown in our global community.
As climate emergencies worsen globally, homes vanish, crops no longer grow and lives are set in limbo, forcing an estimated 20 million people a year from their homes. This mass migration threatens women’s and girls’ health and safety. There is a direct link between environmental pressures and gender-based violence and unwanted pregnancy. Women’s and girls’ need for sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion, increases—but in times of disaster, those services are likely to be unavailable.
Everything was destroyed. Then they borrowed a piece of cloth and covered me for delivery. Then my child was born under open sky.
Women and young people are not just “victims” of climate change; they need to be key players in solving the crisis.
Learn more about the two communities we visited.
Photography in Bangladesh by Fabeha Monir and in Mozambique by Amilton Neves.