Women are more vulnerable during disastrous situations compared to
their male counterparts. It was noted in many studies that among all other
natural disasters, flood causes immense sufferings of women due to the
low standard of living conditions and poor institutional arrangement in flood
prone areas of Bangladesh. The geographical location and low elevation of
land with numerous rivers make Bangladesh really vulnerable. The focus of
this research is to explore women’s vulnerability at the community level and
ways of coping with the consequences of floods. Both secondary and primary
data have been used and analyzed to identify vulnerability and the mechanism
of women’s coping with floods at Khidrachappur, Baradul in Belkuchi Upazilla. The results of the study found that the consequences of floods have
different impacts on men and women. In addition, it has been found that in
reality, women are affected more severely and that their role is quite negligible
in decision making, as well as their participation in training related to
flood issues. Women suffer from physical injuries and are often evicted from
their dwellings due to floods. Difficulties in finding adequate shelter, food,
safe water, and fuel for cooking, as well as problems in maintaining personal
hygiene and sanitation, prevent women from performing their usual roles at
home. Despite this heavy burden, which women bear in extremely difficult
circumstances, they demonstrate considerable fortitude and ingenuity in
their attempts to cope with floods by taking several steps like selling assets,
moving towards higher places, storing dry food, social networking, borrowing
money, collecting safe drinking water and managing household activities etc.
It was noted that despite all adversities, women can cope with the consequences
of floods and show their resilience capacity.