Study: Climate Change impacting 90% coastal women

A study by the Center for Participatory Research and Development (CPRD) at a seminar titled “Climate Injustice Vs Gender Justice: Why should this matter?” revealed the adverse effect of climate change negatively affecting 90% of women of coastal regions of Bagerhat and Satkhira districts. 

The study is said to find a nexus between human rights and climate change based on factors including gender, race, caste, ethnicity, and financial level. 

The study uses 17 cases from the Mongla upazila under the Bagerhat district and Shyamnagar upazila under the Satkhira district, with an age range of 35-60 years.

More than 90% of the women in both upazilas have been affected by cyclones, riverbank erosion, and storm surges, which have caused loss and devastation as well as terrible health concerns.

There were 88.8% affected by cyclones in Mongla, 45.5% by salinity, and 48.8% by river bank erosion, while in Shyamnagar there were 97% affected by cyclones, 53% by storm surges, and 53% by salinity.

According to the survey, 54% of women in Shyamnagar and 64% of women in Mongla, respectively, have reproductive health issues.

In the meantime, a large number of women in such regions have lost their ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uteri.

Additionally, the report reveals that 50.0% of students in Shyamnagar and 38.3% of students in Mongla left school before completing their high school educations and ended up getting married as children.

For more information download the summary of the findings.

Image Source: Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune