Preliminary assessment of the gender aspects of disaster vulnerability and loss of human life in South Africa

Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Preliminary assessment of the gender aspects of disaster vulnerability and loss of human life in South Africa
 
Creator Tandlich, Roman Chirenda, Tatenda G. Srinivas, Chandra S.S.
 
Subject — disaster-related fatalities; gender-adjusted death rates; South Africa; literacy inequality; maternal healthcare
Description South Africa has reached a medium level of human development and has a heterogeneous situation with respect to disaster risk management. In this article, a preliminary assessment of the gender aspects of disaster vulnerability and fatalities is presented. The United Nations, the Health Systems Trust and Statistics South Africa were used as data sources for the following gender-segregated values: the life expectancy at birth, unemployment rates, the human development index values, the maternal mortality rates and the number of deaths from unnatural and non-natural causes. The relevant inequality indices were then calculated and used to draw conclusions regarding the gender aspects of disaster risk management in South Africa. Results of the calculations indicate that between 1980 and 2011 men were 10% more vulnerable with respect to their health status. However, the gender differences have been decreasing in recent years. Access of women to healthcare is decreasing with time, potentially decreasing the recovery potential of whole families. Women are more economically vulnerable than men in South Africa, as they are 16.3% – 33% more likely to be unemployed than men. Educational status of both genders in South Africa is comparable based on literacy and enrolment rates at primary and secondary level. On the other hand, men are five times more likely to suffer fatal injuries during disasters.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2013-03-18
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/octet-stream text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/jamba.v5i2.84
 
Source Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies; Vol 5, No 2 (2013); 11 pages 2072-845X 1996-1421
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/84/175 https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/84/176 https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/84/177 https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/84/174
 
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Rights Copyright (c) 2013 Roman Tandlich, Tatenda G. Chirenda, Chandra S.S. Srinivas https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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