Ecologies of Gendered Vulnerability in South Asia: Displacement, Disaster, Resource Conflict, and the Cultural Politics of Ecologies of Violence

Publication Details

Publication Date

10/11/2026

Volume / Issue

Vol 1, Issue 6 (2026)

Article No.

050

Journal

British Journal of Contemporary Research

DOI

https://doi.org/10.67693/BJCR-8AW8PRIB

Received

23 Oct 2026

Views

29

Downloads

12

Abstract

Environmental disruption in South Asia is closely associated with gender inequality, displacement, livelihood insecurity, and violence. Floods, cyclones, droughts, riverbank erosion, heat stress, water scarcity, and resource extraction affect populations differently because access to land, income, mobility, social protection, and political institutions is unequal. Women and girls may face heightened risks due to gendered labor divisions, insecure property rights, care responsibilities, mobility restrictions, and exclusion from environmental decision-making. This article examines how ecological change becomes gendered through disasters, displacement, and conflicts over land, water, and natural resources. It adopts an interdisciplinary critical-review methodology, integrating environmental humanities, political ecology, gender studies, disaster studies, and migration research with evidence from scholarly literature and authoritative institutional sources. Drawing on scholarly and institutional sources, it comparatively examines Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and the wider South Asian region. The analysis argues that gendered vulnerability is socially produced through interactions between environmental hazards, patriarchal institutions, socioeconomic inequalities, resource dependence, insecure livelihoods, and exclusionary governance. Displacement is conceptualized as a continuing process encompassing pre-disaster exposure, evacuation, relocation, and livelihood reconstruction. Literature and media representations may reinforce stereotypes of women as passive disaster victims, but they can also highlight women’s ecological knowledge, resistance, and political agency. The article proposes an Ecology-Gender-Displacement-Violence Framework connecting ecological stress, resource insecurity, mobility, institutional disruption, and gender-based violence while recognizing women’s adaptive capacities. It concludes that gender-responsive climate policies must extend beyond protection-oriented interventions to strengthen women’s resource rights, political participation, personal safety, livelihood security, and representation in ecological governance. The study offers a conceptual synthesis rather than original field-survey findings, contributing an integrated perspective for inclusive disaster-risk reduction and environmental policymaking in South Asia.

License

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Free to read, share, and adapt with attribution.