Climate change, women with disabilities, invisibility and networking response

Summary

Accelerated sea level rise due to global warming and climate change is of great
significance to India (UNEP 1991) because of its low-lying densely populated coastal
areas. Research studies mention that “sea level has risen @ 2.5mm per year along the
coastline since the 1950s. A mean sea level rise of between 15 and 38cm is projected by
the mid-21st century along India’s coast and the estimate is that a 1m rise in sea level
could displace 7 million people from their homes in India (IPCC 2001). Patnaik and
Narayan (2005) reported that the eastern coast is more vulnerable than the western coast
of India due to the frequency of extra-climatic conditions.

Vulnerability of the people residing in coastal areas is determined by spatial locations,
socio-economic condition and physical ability of individuals. Observed through an
intersectional lens we find that vulnerability multiplies if someone is disabled, a woman,
and a lower caste or class. Humans have survival instincts and develop survival strategies
to tread through difficult situations. Thus, self-adaptation to variable climatic conditions is
a preferred practice in households.

As per the 2011 Census India has a 2.68 crore disabled population amounting to 2.21%
of the total population of the country. Out of this 1.18 crore are women. Feminist research
studies have observed that these women are subject to multiple vulnerabilities due to the
operational mechanisms of a patriarchal social structure. In the RPWD Act 2016, India
has identified 21 forms of disabilities instead of seven forms previously identified in the
PWD Act 1995. Some are affected by multiple forms of disabilities.

Adaptation to climate change is considered a rational option for the state and the
researchers as well. As we observed adaptation can be non-planned self-adaptation and
planned adaptation addressed through public policies. This Research Report makes an
effort to prepare an adaptation inventory for the disabled women of households affected
by coastal erosion.

The study was conducted in different Gram Panchayats of Rajnagar Block of Kendrapada
District of Odisha, India where the Government of Odisha has resettled people displaced
by coastal erosion in the East coast in a relocation colony named Bagapatia. A qualitative
research design was developed to do the field study.

A total of 169 women with disabilities were identified in the hotspots and 29 Key informants/stakeholders were interviewed. They were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Case studies were also
collected to have a better understanding of the vulnerabilities of Women with Disabilities
from an intersectional standpoint.