The Struggles of Women: An Experience from the Flood-Prone Area

Abstract

Women in developing counties have been called the “invisible earners” (Weist et al. 1994: 15). Women’s productive work, particularly in child-rearing and other domestic work, as well as their enormous contribution to national food production requirements, is hidden in statistics (Chiu 1982, cited in Weist et al. 1994). Women are not only responsible for attending to the basic needs of their children and families, but account significantly for productive and income-generating activities. In short women’s role in economy is masqueraded by the dominant structure of the society. When it comes to disaster scenario women are never considered in priorities. They always come under the larger umbrella of management plan and do not get prominent space in management plans. Even in national disaster plans, women’s issues share very low profile. Developing countries have bizarre experiences of women-specific disaster planning. In this scenario, this paper tries to bring out the limitations and strengths for women during recurrent disasters. The author also tries to look at the experiences of the women in different structures, social and economic, and locations. The study was carried out in the one of the important flood-prone districts of Uttar Pradesh, Siddharthnagar. The major tools for data collection were interview schedules and observation.