Education in Emergencies: The Gender Implications - INEE

women were more likely to be at home at the time – or in the case of a community inSri Lanka, taking their baths in the sea, close to the shore. In many locations, men werefurther out to sea and so were safer. Women were also physically less able to run from theenormous waves and to climb trees. In conflict situations, men and young boys may beat greater risk of recruitment into fighting forces and into potentially-lethal active combat,but women and girls may be forced to serve as sex slaves and cooks, or to take on othernon-combatant roles. They may be targeted for rape and sexual abuse by fighting forces,but may also be subjected to sexual violence by the men of their own community andfamily. Levels of sexual violence and exploitation of women and girls can also increase whennatural disasters strike, as well as in the aftermath if displaced families are crowded intopoorly-designed camps with few protective features such as good lighting and separatetoilet/washing facilities for females. Unfortunately, the desire to protect women and girlsfrom such risks can also mean that they are prevented from accessing education, health andother critical support services.At the same time, emergency situations and the priority to survive mean that both men andwomen often have to take on non-traditional gender roles and activities. In the aftermathof the South Asian earthquake of October 2005, for example, widowed men were cookingfood for their children for the first time in their lives. In some circumstances, women affectedby a crisis may also benefit from the ‘window of opportunity’ to access new opportunities– for example, to go out to work and control family finances for the first time. However,these shifts may not be sustained in the long term and women may end up carrying adouble burden – that is, continuing to do both their traditional activities such as householdchores and childcare and additional tasks that would otherwise be carried out by men. Insome emergency situations, especially conflicts in which ethnicity and cultural identity arethreatened, traditional gender differences and patterns of activity become even more rigidlyadhered to, and women and girls are subjected to increased limitations on mobility andparticipation.Emergency Situations:The Gender Implications in EducationMachel’s reports highlighted the disproportionate impact of conflict on girls and, inparticular, on girls’ access to education. Subsequent studies, reports, programmes and policyinterventions have raised awareness of the gender dimensions of emergency situations andof the critical need to ensure that both girls and boys have early and equal access to, andbenefit equally from, relevant education (see bibliography). Although there are exceptions,in most emergency situations, girls’ educational opportunities are more limited than boys’.Even under very difficult conditions, however, ‘windows of opportunity’ may also open up forgirls and women to access education. It is critical to establish gender-responsive emergencyeducation programmes early on as these lay the foundations for increased participation ofwomen and girls in recovery/reconstruction activities, as well as in community and nationaldevelopment processes, including, for example, standing in newly-democratic elections. Ifwomen and girls are not equally included from the beginning, then it can be very difficult toencourage them into the system later because of the tendency for emergency arrangementsto set patterns for the future.Advocacy Brief Education in Emergencies: The Gender Implications See, for example, Oxfam International (2005)