Impact of women’s participation in disaster recovery on their lives: A case study from Pakistan

• Author / Creator

  Gul, Shehla

• This study used a qualitative case study to examine women’s participation in disaster recovery in Union Council Langarpura, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) state of Pakistan. The specific objectives of this research were to:

  1. Analyze how women have participated in the recovery process;
  2. Identify the factors that influenced women’s participation in the recovery process;
  3. Examine how participation in the process of recovery after the Kashmir earthquake has affected the lives of women in the rural communities of Union Council Langarpura, AJK and;
  4. Make recommendations regarding how to involve women in recovery and empower women through the recovery process. This study follows a disaster approach and critical theory paradigm, particularly feminism. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, two focus group discussions, four key-informant interviews and 30 semi-structured individual interviews were conducted in Union Council Langarpura, AJK, Pakistan. A community advisory committee consisting of three local community members and two research assistants were also appointed for the study. The participants of this study were selected using purposeful sampling and snowballing techniques. Participant observations were also carried out to complement data collected through interviews and focus groups. Data was collected in the communities of Langarpura from September 14 to November 25, 2012. Since, the focus groups and interviews for this study were conducted in Urdu or the local language, Pahari, all the data was translated and transcribed into English and QSR NVivo 10 was used for coding and data analysis. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the women’s participation in disaster recovery in remote rural communities in three important ways: First, the female participants in Langarpura have played three important roles during the recovery process; reproductive, productive and community roles. The results of this study revealed that if given the opportunity, women in the remote rural communities can actively participate in recovery activities and perform not only traditional roles but also some non-traditional roles. Second, this research found that women’s participation was influenced by four factors: the Kashmir earthquake itself, the culture of Langarpura, the role of social activists, and the role of social capital. This study shows that the death of the male members of family, the outmigration of males and the influx of large number of government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and aid organizations encouraged women’s participation in disaster recovery. In addition, loose purdah restrictions and the active role of social activists also facilitated women to go outdoors and take part in recovery. Most importantly, however, social capital played a fundamental role and all the three forms of social capital i.e. bonding, bridging and linking social capital encouraged women in Langarpura to participate in the recovery. Third, this study examined the impacts of participation in disaster recovery on women’s lives. The results of this research revealed that participation in recovery activities contributed to both individual and community resilience of the female participants by improving their material, relational and subjective well-being. The three-dimensional model of well-being proposed by Sumner (2010) was utilized to show how participation in disaster recovery influenced the well-being and, in turn, resilience of the female participants. Participation also empowered the female participants in personal, family and community spheres and their empowerment led to the transformation of gender roles and relations and gender stereotypes, involvement in decision-making at the family, community and higher levels and enhanced civic consciousness. Therefore, this study revealed that disasters provide “window of opportunity” for the participation of women in disaster recovery which, in turn, leads to social transformation through women’s empowerment and improvement of their gendered status and overall image in the society.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Feminism and disaster recovery
  • Gender and disaster recovery
  • Women's empowerment
  • Impact of women's participation in recovery on thier lives
  • Disaster recovery
  • Women and disaster management
  • Factors influencing women's participation in recovery
  • Feminism and women's participation in recovery
  • Women's participation in disaster recovery
  • Women's disaster resilience

• Graduation date

  Fall 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-37xf-kr43

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.