Saturday, March 26, 2005
Tsunami kills more women than men
Jax
Up to four times as many women as men died in the Boxing Day Asian tsunami, according to a report published today by Oxfam International.
In four villages surveyed by the aid agency in the badly hit district of North Aceh in Indonesia, an average of 77% of the fatalities were women. In the worst affected village, Kuala Cangkoy, the proportion rose to 80%.
Data collected from Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India produced a figure of 73% female fatalities. In Sri Lanka, information was hard to confirm but anecdotal evidence suggested about two thirds of those who died were women.
The reasons vary, but among the common factors is that many men were out fishing or away from home, so had more opportunity to flee the tsunami. In general, men could run faster to escape the water and those caught in the sea used their greater strength to survive by clinging on to debris.
In Aceh, the Indonesian province that bore the brunt of the disaster, many men have moved away from the province, which is beset by a separatist insurgency, to find work. Women, in contrast, were at home, and efforts to save their children slowed their flight.
In Indian coastal communities, women traditionally wait on the beaches to unload the fish from the boats.
In Sri Lanka, researchers found few women could swim or climb trees.
As communities today mark the three-month anniversary of the tsunami, Oxfam's report warns of significant social disruption and exploitation of the women who remain in the affected communities. (Link)
