Where Women Are Economically Empowered, There Are Fewer Disaster Victims

Kelly F. Austin of Lehigh University and Laura A. McKinney of Tulane University used data from 85 less developed nations for their study entitled “Disaster Devastation in Poor Nations: The Direct and Indirect Effects of Gender Equality, Ecological Losses, and Development.” The study aims to quantitatively assess the drivers of suffering from disasters across less developed nations reveals that women who are economically empowered have a disproportionately positive impact on disaster outcomes. The researchers found that advancing the economic status of women reduces the proportion of people affected by disasters directly, because economically empowered women are able to better prepare for and respond to disasters and indirectly, as they enhance health resources in the community that help reduce harm and prevent death.