Onal Fatma Gulsum, Marangoz Bahar
The Department of Deontological Ethics, Trakya University School of Medicine, Edirne, 22100, Turkey.
Edirne Provincial Health Directorate, Edirne, 22100, Turkey.
BMC Womens Health. 2025 Jul 14;25(1):348. doi: 10.1186/s12905-025-03629-y.
The devastating earthquakes that struck Türkiye and Syria on February 6, 2023, caused significant destruction and loss of life, to the extent that they have been termed the "Disaster of the Century." Although women are disproportionately affected by disasters, they have historically been overlooked in disaster management. However, with the increased awareness brought about by the feminist movement regarding secondary inequalities arising from structural disparities such as gender roles and economic dependency, the concept of "gender-sensitive disaster management" has gained prominence. The primary aim of our study is to evaluate how gender-sensitive disaster management is addressed in the Turkish parliament. Its secondary aim is to contribute to the scope of feminist bioethics. Thirdly, the study is expected to contribute to the ethics and policies of disaster management in Türkiye, a country prone to earthquakes, with a focus on the rights of women and vulnerable groups.
In the study, the transcripts of parliamentary sessions held between February 6, 2023, and April 23, 2023, as published on the official website of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (GNAT), were analyzed using qualitative research methods. The research data consists of discourses extracted from a total of 29 transcripts, covering the first session following the earthquake (February 7, 2023) and the final session of the legislative year (April 23, 2023). The data were systematically retrieved using the keywords "earthquake," "disaster," "gender," "women," and "health." The data were coded in Excel by assigning serial numbers to the documents, and the names of the speakers were anonymized to avoid potential biases that might arise while interpreting political materials. In this study, the source data consist of publicly available documents shared on the official website, specifically the Parliamentary Record Journal prepared by the GNAT Transcripts Services Department. These documents include verbatim quotations expressed by speakers and read by clerks, all accurately written and marked in quotation marks. As the study relies on publicly accessible sources without human participants, obtaining Ethics Committee approval is not required in our country.
The recurring statements of members of parliament within the context of "disaster and gender" were categorized under common themes. Accordingly, the main themes identified were "Access to Humanitarian Aid," "Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination," and "Vulnerability." Within this framework, members of parliament expressed views on topics such as the "Right to Life," "Right to Shelter," and "Right to Health" (including hygiene, sexual and reproductive health, and access to food and water). Additionally, views were expressed on sub-themes such as "Traditional Gender Norms," "Equality in Care Work," "Participation," "Struggle and Solidarity," "Privacy and Security" (including physical, psychological, economic, and sexual violence), "Intersectionality" (disability, LGBTQ+, refugee rights), "Advocacy," and "Responsibility and Accountability."
Gender-sensitive disaster management has revealed its multidimensional impacts on the lives of women and vulnerable groups, emphasizing the importance of feminist ethical obligations in this context. Comprehensive policies are necessary at every stage of disaster management to ensure the consideration of equality.
2023年2月6日袭击土耳其和叙利亚的毁灭性地震造成了重大破坏和生命损失，其严重程度堪称“世纪灾难”。尽管女性在灾难中受到的影响尤为严重，但在历史上她们在灾害管理中一直被忽视。然而，随着女权运动使人们越发意识到由性别角色和经济依赖等结构性差异导致的次生不平等，“性别敏感型灾害管理”的概念日益受到关注。我们研究的主要目的是评估土耳其议会如何应对性别敏感型灾害管理。其次要目的是为女权主义生物伦理学的范畴做出贡献。第三，该研究有望为地震频发的土耳其的灾害管理伦理和政策做出贡献，重点关注妇女和弱势群体的权利。
在本研究中，使用定性研究方法分析了土耳其大国民议会（GNAT）官方网站上公布的2023年2月6日至2023年4月23日期间举行的议会会议记录。研究数据包括从总共29份记录中提取的话语，涵盖地震后的第一次会议（2023年2月7日）和立法年度的最后一次会议（2023年4月23日）。通过使用关键词“地震”“灾害”“性别”“妇女”和“健康”系统地检索数据。通过为文档分配序列号在Excel中对数据进行编码，并对发言者的姓名进行匿名处理，以避免在解释政治材料时可能出现的潜在偏差。在本研究中，源数据由官方网站上共享的公开可用文档组成，特别是GNAT记录服务部编制的议会记录期刊。这些文档包括发言者表达并由书记员宣读的逐字引语，均准确书写并标有引号。由于该研究依赖于公开可获取的来源且无人类参与者，在我国无需获得伦理委员会的批准。
议员们在“灾害与性别”背景下反复提及的观点被归类到共同主题之下。据此，确定的主要主题为“获得人道主义援助”“性别平等与非歧视”以及“脆弱性”。在此框架内，议员们就“生命权”“住房权”和“健康权”（包括卫生、性健康和生殖健康以及获得食物和水的权利）等议题表达了看法。此外，还就“传统性别规范”“护理工作中的平等”“参与”“斗争与团结”“隐私与安全”（包括身体、心理、经济和性暴力）、“交叉性”（残疾、LGBTQ +、难民权利）、“宣传倡导”以及“责任与问责制”等子主题表达了观点。
性别敏感型灾害管理已揭示出其对妇女和弱势群体生活的多方面影响，凸显了在此背景下女权主义伦理义务的重要性。在灾害管理的每个阶段都需要有全面的政策，以确保平等得到考量。
