How Women are Affected

According to Think Progress, "studies suggest that women die at a rate up to 14 times higher than men, boys, or even girls when disaster strikes". Part of the reason is because women are more impacted by social and cultural traditions that limit their mobility.

After an earthquake in Maharashtra, India the deaths among women were attributed to the fact that women were mostly in their homes while the men were out working in the fields. Being out allowed the men to be less susceptible to being trapped underneath rubble. A study of the cyclone that hit Bangladesh in 1991, suggested that several women and children died in their homes because they waited for the men to come home in order to make evacuation decisions.

The issue is that many women are not aware of how to protect themselves and are often left out of the planning process in order to be prepared during emergencies.

Human Rights Violations

According to the US Human Rights Network there was a clear violation "under article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the “Covenant”) to protect, and fulfill the right to life” with regards to Hurricane Katrina.The United States failed to provide the necessary and appropriate solutions to the many victims involved in the disaster. Another violation occurred under "article 26 by violating the principle of non-discrimination in the way it prepared for Hurricane Katrina.” The evacuation plans were clearly discriminatory based on property ownership, which yielded racial discrimination.