Gender-based evaluation of physical, social, and economic challenges in natural disasters management

The characteristics and interrelations of each gender are constructed under geographic, cultural, social, and economic conditions. The differences in their understanding of and vulnerability to natural disasters cause them to evaluate the importance of probable challenges through post-disaster recovery process differently. Without considering gender-based requirements in post-disaster recovery planning, it is not possible to fully meet the needs of the community. In this study, the physical, social, and economic challenges after a disaster were evaluated according to both women's and men's opinions. To meet the objectives, (1) the potential challenges were identified through a thorough literature review, (2) a survey was developed and distributed to women and men who had been involved in at least one major disaster during the last decade, (3) the results were statistically analyzed, and (4) the challenges were weighted and prioritized. Twenty-seven challenges were identified from which 19 were determined statistically significant. In addition, the top-three weighted challenges for natural disaster management were "low revenue of the local government,""low level of average household income,"and "lack of family/friends who can help emotionally."Overall, the results indicated that women had a different perspective of disaster recovery challenges comparing to men. The results of this study establish a basis for better understanding the differences between women's and men's insights into disaster recovery challenges, and can be utilized to develop policies that enhance the resiliency of the communities and reduce their vulnerabilities to extreme natural events.