Socio-economic Impacts of Natural Disaster: A Gender Analysis

Hurricane Mitch battered south-western Honduras, the Pacific coastline of Nicaragua and El Salvador in 1998. A gender analysis shows how it affected women and men differently. The most significant direct impacts of natural disasters on women include curtailing their spare time, income, and productive activities. Women faced severe physical, financial, psychological, and social vulnerabilities in the aftermath of the hurricane. Reconstruction activities often involved women's labour but failed to adequately respond to women's needs. There is a need for a range of participatory methods and for the inclusion of women in evaluations and censuses. The paper includes extensive tables on facts and statistics that can be used to analyse the effects of a disaster on different groups.