McNaught Rebecca, Pittaway Emma, Bethune Loriana, Meade Dominica, Longman Jo
The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
University Centre for Rural Health, Lismore, NSW, Australia.
Womens Health (Lond). 2025 Jan-Dec;21:17455057251345938. doi: 10.1177/17455057251345938. Epub 2025 Jun 17.
Whilst gendered violence and other gendered health impacts of disasters are well rehearsed in the literature, relatively less attention has been paid to women's important role in supporting the health and well-being of communities during the peak and aftermath of extreme weather-related events such as floods.
This article explores the gendered dimensions of rural Australian community disaster responses and resilience building, highlighting women's experiences of and contributions to community health and well-being, disaster governance and leadership in the community setting.
The article presents a case study from the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, a rural area on the front line of the climate crisis having been subjected to compounding disasters in the last decade including catastrophic flooding.
The qualitative study draws upon: semi-structured interviews with community members, government, not for profit and businesses; notes from public events; a research diary and transcripts from a New South Wales Government flood response inquiry.
The results of this study suggest that following the 2022 floods, women have made significant and enduring local contributions to the health, well-being and recovery of communities across the Northern Rivers region. Despite challenges in accessing power and decision-making, women played an essential role in community problem solving and circumnavigated challenges using collaborative local approaches. However, women often paid the cost of undertaking these roles through negative impacts on their own health and well-being.
This study reveals that after disasters, masculinised labour benefits from support and recognition while the prolonged work of women to support the health and well-being of their communities persists without these privileges. Further studies are needed on how women and their leadership strengths can be recognised and supported to enable ongoing health and well-being of disaster-affected communities, including the health and well-being of women organisers themselves.
虽然灾害的性别暴力及其他性别化健康影响在文献中已有充分讨论，但在诸如洪水等极端天气相关事件的高峰期及灾后，女性在支持社区健康与福祉方面的重要作用却相对较少受到关注。
本文探讨澳大利亚农村社区灾害应对及恢复力建设中的性别维度，突出女性在社区健康与福祉、灾害治理及社区环境中的领导作用方面的经历与贡献。
本文呈现了澳大利亚新南威尔士州北部河流地区的一个案例研究，该农村地区处于气候危机前沿，在过去十年中遭受了包括灾难性洪水在内的多重灾害。
这项定性研究借鉴了以下内容：对社区成员、政府、非营利组织和企业进行的半结构化访谈；公共活动记录；研究日记以及新南威尔士州政府洪水应对调查的文字记录。
本研究结果表明，在2022年洪水之后，女性为北部河流地区社区的健康、福祉及恢复做出了重大且持久的本地贡献。尽管在获取权力和决策方面存在挑战，但女性在社区问题解决中发挥了关键作用，并通过本地协作方式克服了各种困难。然而，女性承担这些角色往往给自己的健康和福祉带来负面影响。
本研究表明，灾害过后，男性化劳动受益于支持与认可，而女性为支持社区健康与福祉所做的长期工作却没有这些特权。需要进一步研究如何认可和支持女性及其领导能力，以促进受灾社区的持续健康与福祉，包括女性组织者自身的健康与福祉。
