Multiple studies have established a clear link between climate change and violence against women, with a global review of over 40 studies published in The Lancet revealing a rise in gender-based violence during or after extreme weather events. However, Nitya Rao, a professor of gender and development at University of East Anglia, highlights that this has been hard to capture in statistics due to the complex factors involved, and thus not given adequate weight. However, recent research established that there had been a 60% increase in domestic violence in Kenya during extreme weather. Scientists find that rather than directly causing violence, extreme weather exacerbates other drivers of violence by increasing existing pressures or making violence easier to carry out. The authors of this article shed light on the stories of numerous women across the globe who have experienced increases in abuse as a result of climate change. These women explain how natural disasters have put them in dangerous domestic situations which required many of them to flee their homes.
