How Women Were Affected by the Tsunami: A Perspective from Oxfam

0474 In Oxfam’s experience, disasters are profoundly discriminatory, even those that are “natural” rather than man-made. Factors that were present before a disaster, such as poor social conditions, mean that some people in the disaster zone will be more affected than others. People living in poverty are much more vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters. As women account for 70% of the 1.3 billion people worldwide living in extreme poverty (less than $1 a day) (see http:⁄⁄www. oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/ gender/introduction.htm), it follows that when natural disasters hit povertystricken areas, women are more likely to be affected than men.