A joint press release/statement by the Joint Action Group Against Violence Against Women (JAG-VAW):
All Women Action Society of Malaysia; Malaysian Trade Union Congress, Women's Section; Sisters in Islam; Women's Aid Organisation; Women's Centre for Change, Penang; Women's Development Collective.

It is estimated that over 150,000 people have lost their lives in South and Southeast Asia, as well as in East Africa, in the aftermath of the earthquake and resulting tsunamis on December 26. Thousands of people in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and Indonesia are still missing.

While we are deeply shocked and saddened by the catastrophe and extend our condolences and solidarity to all those involved, we would also like to draw attention to specific concerns of women that have surfaced or will surface in situations like this.

A research conducted in 2000 by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) suggests that gender is an important dimension in situations of natural disasters. Specifically, it states that:

"First, both women and men have specific short-term needs and long-term interests in disasters; second, that women are key economic actors throughout the disaster cycle of preparedness, mitigation, relief, and reconstruction; and third, that women's economic vulnerability to future disasters is increased by lack of attention to gender equity in disaster interventions.

Women, the frail elderly and children, members of subordinated cultural or racial groups, the chronically ill, undocumented residents, the pre-disaster homeless, and other socially marginalized populations are least likely to have the social power, economic resources, and physical capacities needed to anticipate, survive, and recover from the effects of massive floods, long-lasting drought, volcanic eruptions, and other extreme environmental events."

Such concerns have been reiterated by several women's groups in Sri Lanka and Acheh whose fact-finding missions in the tsunami-affected areas revealed alarming concerns regarding the safety and well-being of women that thus far had not been addressed by relief efforts. For example:

• Reports of incidents of rape, gang rape, molestation, and physical abuse of women and girls in the course of unsupervised rescue operations and while resident in temporary shelters;
• Restricted mobility of women due to the fear of sexual violence;
• Report from UNFPA in Acheh (15 January 2005) revealed that pregnant and nursing women are especially susceptible to waterborne diseases and require urgent pre- (e.g. delivery assistance) and post natal care, supplementary feeding;
• Lack of information flowing from the Tsunami-hit areas on the numbers of specific vulnerable communities such as pregnant women, lactating mothers, persons with physical and mental disabilities, persons with special medical needs and requiring daily and consistent medication. The collection of such data is absolutely critical for identifying priority needs for post-tsunami support efforts.
• Lack of a system that could identify children separated from their families has prevented efforts to locate families with missing children and hampered the resettlement of children with relatives in the locations where they were found.
• Relief work that does not take into account existing gender roles such as the caring work that is performed by women in the community. For example, Flower Acheh and Solidaritas Perempuan found that supplies distributed such as water, food and mattresses are distributed based on the needs of single adults. This is without consideration of the fact that a mother with children will be sharing these basic necessities with them is sharing her space with them. As a result, there are mothers without adequate food left for them of sleeping on the bare earth, with no mattress, sheet or blankets.
• Additional levels of displacement, surveillance and under-prioritisation of women who are already displaced, such as refugee and asylum seekers.
• Inadequate structures of coordination within the government bureaucracy to enable efficient functioning of relief efforts.

From experiences elsewhere in the world, we also know that female survivors of natural disasters face other compelling challenges. In the 1999 earthquake in Turkey, for example, there was a profound increase in cases of domestic violence among surviving families.

Given the above, the Joint Action Group against Violence Against Women (JAG-VAW) calls on the UN and other relief agencies to recognise that it is important for any reconstruction plans being formulated now to take into account women's specific concerns. In this, it is also necessary to realise that women are not a homogenous entity, and that different groups of women will require a different set of responses. We recommend long-term measures need to be in place and they are as follows:

1. Deploy mechanisms to ensure that all aspects of the aid operations are aligned with international norms and codes of conduct to minimise further danger and trauma of sexual violence

2. Ensure that short, medium and long term relief efforts take into account the special needs of women in consideration of the specificities of gender roles existing within the affected communities;

3. Deploy mechanisms to ensure that all aspects of the aid operations are aligned with international norms and codes of conduct to minimise further danger and trauma of sexual violence;

4. Establish special rehabilitation centers to cater for children's specific needs since they have increased vulnerabilities due to their dependence on adults;

5. Offer group counseling services for women as seen through precedent, by sharing their experiences, women are better able to give each other support;

6. Establish emergency care with medical personnel who are experts in gynaecology, obstetrics and paediatrics care.

7. Encourage the establishment of coordination centres by community based organisations or non-governmental organisations to ensure that aid reaches the survivors;

8. Ensure that the process of accountability in aid efforts are transparent and incorporates the special needs of women;

9. Recognise that women make up a significant group of relief workers, and through that, enable their access to donations and aid to better address the specific needs of women in the affected areas;

10. Ensure the involvement of women in the relief efforts and the re-building of shattered communities; and

11. Ensure free flow of information by keeping all communication channels open and accessible to all.

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• UNIFEM responds to the Tsunami Tragedy