Conference Agenda

It is observed that violence against women in India has increased with the rising frequency of droughts and cyclones from 2004 to 2019. We study the association between occurrences of natural disasters and violence against women in India. The main indirect channel explored is male unemployment due to natural disasters. We study the combined effects of exposure to a natural disaster and job loss by interacting the incidences of disaster with the male unemployment rate. We find that an increase in male unemployment, combined with the adverse effects of disasters, leads to a rise in reported incidences of violence against women. A significant impact of cyclones and droughts and disaster-induced male unemployment on violence against women indicates an emergent need for policy initiatives to mitigate instances of gender-based violence. Our results are robust to controlling for lagged violence incidences and truncated data to include districts with female literacy in the highest 90th percentile.

We find that districts that have implemented disaster risk management policies and cyclone risk mitigation policies can develop disaster preparedness measures and become resilient to the adverse effects of natural disasters. We further find that institutional policies such as alcohol sales prohibition and the presence of women-only police stations have helped reduce violence against women. Therefore, gender-based public interventions can reduce women's dependence on men for financial and emotional support and enhance women's bargaining strength, both within and outside the household.

Besides reducing disaster fatalities and developing disaster-resilient infrastructure, disaster risk mitigation policies should also develop specific policies on employment generation to reduce women's vulnerability to the adverse effects of disasters. The government should also invest in gender-specific policies to improve female literacy and higher participation in administrative positions. These are positive correlates of women's empowerment and reporting of gender-based violence, not only at times of disasters but also on average.

Gender differences in depression are globally documented across a wide range of studies that analyse self-reports of depressive symptoms or clinical diagnoses (Nolen-Hoeksma 1990; Kessler 2003; de la Torre et al. 2021). Extensive research fails to identify any single reason for this finding, but systematic variation in depressive symptomology across socio-economic and demographic groups indicates that gender differences derive, at least in part, from environmental or social factors. Among the environmental factors that are considered most important, certainly by many feminist scholars, are those relating to gender differences in economic status and the underlying gender division of labour (Radloff 1975; Nolen-Hoeksema et al. 1999).

In this study, we add to the existing literature by interrogating heterogeneity in gender differences in mental health. Studies that investigate environmental factors typically consider these in relation to the average gender gap in depression. We use a sorting and classification method (Chernozhukov et al. 2018) that makes it possible to map the full distribution of gender differences in depression symptomology among comparable women and men. Although we cannot attribute causality, the method allows us to isolate those social factors that are distinctive to women who experience the largest gender gap in depression symptomology compared to those who exhibit the smallest.

The study analyses detailed nationally representative micro-data from South Africa, a country with one of the highest rates of inequality globally, and where women are considerably more likely than men to be poor (Posel and Rogan 2012; Posel et al. 2018). As is common elsewhere, women report more depressive symptoms than men, and low socio-economic status (measured with both money-metric and subjective indicators) is correlated with poor mental health. However, women with low socio-economic status are no more vulnerable to depression than comparable men and may even be less vulnerable; while the gender gap in mental health is particularly marked among women who are married and employed.

These findings are consistent with resilience and a “steeling effect” among women with low economic status (Rutter 1987; Höltge et al. 2018), and with a sex-role explanation for gender differences in mental health (Nazroo et al. 1997). Women have likely experienced more past economic adversity than men, who may feel more societal expectations to be an income-provider for their family; while women who are married may face greater pressure to conform to a traditional gender division of labour in the home, even when they are employed.

I show, using the US Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression during the pandemic compared to earlier time periods. I leverage the Pulse Survey’s questions that allow respondents to report their sexual orientation and gender identity to show that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender or gender minority individuals report higher levels of depression and anxiety than heterosexual cisgender individuals throughout the pandemic. I further measure differential associations between self-report anxiety and depression with markers of economic vulnerability (including experiencing difficulty meeting expenses, acquiring sufficient food, and housing insecurity) and the ways with which individuals cope with vulnerability. Experiencing these outcomes is associated with a near doubling in the likelihood of reporting anxiety or depression in general. Even though LGBTQ individuals were more likely to be vulnerable, these differentials do not explain increased reports of anxiety or depression they report. There is some evidence that the mental health effect of expense difficulty is larger for gay/lesbian individuals than heterosexual and bisexual individuals and that the effect of housing insecurity is smaller for bisexual women.

This paper addresses the gap between development policies and programmes in Botswana which contributes to continued high levels of poverty and inequality between women and men. It calls for more radical social and economic policies to reduce gender inequality. The paper is based on a historical review of Botswana’s policy commitments and programmes to support economic opportunities for all to achieve national development goals, and analysis of statistical data on poverty and unemployment.

The conceptual and theoretical framework is that gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but is also imperative to achieve socio-economic development and the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 5 which promotes gender equality.

The literature reviewed shows that the Government of Botswana has recognized the important role of gender in the formulation and implementation of economic development programmes and strategies. Efforts have been made to integrate women in the country’s social and economic development process. Access to economic opportunities for everyone to development, is an overall goal clearly stated in the various national development plans, policies and programmes such as the National Policy on Gender and Development (2015) and Vision 2036 (2016). Despite these efforts, there exist disparities among men and women in the country. Although women constitute more than half of Botswana’s population, data show that they are more vulnerable to poverty than men and make up the majority of the unemployed. Women also have less access to and control over economic resources and opportunities for skill training.

The analysis is based on historical and current data on the status of the women. It traces the evolution of the different policies, programmes and strategies used to integrate women in the development process i.e. the WID, WAD and GAD. Findings show that these approaches have had limited impact on alleviating poverty among women. It concludes with recommendations to adopt more radical economic development policies and programmes, including specific programmes for women’s economic empowerment; and targeting vulnerable single female-headed households to enhance their participation in the economy. These would be more effective in reducing poverty among women and supporting national gender equality goals.