How Climate Change Could Drive an Increase in Gender-Based Violence

Jul 14, 2022 | Meghie Rodrigues
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As extreme weather events occur more frequently — something that climate scientists say is inevitable — so, too, will violence towards women and people from gender minorities. That’s the conclusion of a review examining events in the aftermath of floods, droughts, cyclones and heatwaves, among other weather disasters, over the past two decades.

The review found that extreme weather events often catalyse episodes of gender-based violence — particularly physical, sexual and domestic abuse. It is “the most comprehensive and timely analysis of gender-based violence related to extreme weather and climate events that are expected to increase under anthropogenic climate change”, according to lead author Kim van Daalen, who studies global public health at the University of Cambridge, UK.