Anthropologists and local activists in Indonesia and Peru uncover links between water scarcity and gendered violence, and work together to lessen the harms of gender inequality.
Worldwide, water insecurity—the inability to access and benefit from affordable, adequate, reliable, and safe water—is increasing at an alarming rate. Today an estimated 27 percent of the global population lives in severely water-scarce areas. Scientists predict that by 2050, more than half of the global population will live in areas that suffer from water scarcity for at least a month each year. As this happens, more people will encounter a confluence of water-related challenges, including substantial disease risks, constrained economic opportunities, and political instability.
While a water-insecure world affects all people, women and children often suffer the most. An international team of academics and activists has witnessed firsthand how water insecurity impacts women’s health on opposite sides of the globe. Working in Indonesia and Peru, they also use this research, and the close partnerships with local communities and organizations, to spur action that supports gender equality and the basic human right to water.
Read the article on sapiens.org
Access the research paper “Gender-Based Water Violence”: Cross-Cultural Evidence for Severe Harm Associated With Water Insecurity for Women and Girls. bBy Paula Skye Tallman, Stroma Cole, Gabriela Salmón-Mulanovich, and Binahayati Rusyidi
