The Interlinkages between Climate Change-Induced Natural Disasters, Development Aggression and Gender-Based Violence in Indonesia and The Philippines

For Indigenous women, extractive, aggressive development is one of the most pervasive threats to their survival and well-being, as the presence of State and corporate businesses in their territories increases their exposure to different forms of gender-based violence (GBV) and violations of human rights, such as the psychological violence of threats of forced eviction, loss of livelihood, forced displacement, increased hunger and poverty, violence against women, including rape.

 

The gendered linkage of climate change and development aggression is often overlooked. In national and international policy frameworks, women are typically portrayed as homogeneous, equally marginalised, and as vulnerable victims. This perception deflects from the deep-rooted inequalities of institutional gender norms, which exacerbate the exclusion of women from resource access and decision-making. Intrinsically, such uniform categorisation ignores intersectional discrimination based on ethnicity, class, age, socio-economic status, gender, citizenship, physical ability, and socio-ecological context, all of which make Indigenous women and Indigenous gender-diverse people disproportionately exposed to GBV compared to Indigenous and non-Indigenous men, and women of other social identities.

In Southeast Asia, the surge and intensification of climate-related disasters, compounded by alarming levels of environmental degradation and land rights violations caused by development projects (such as mining, logging, agribusiness, infrastructure and energy), results in immense harm to the sustainability of ecosystems, biodiversity of terrestrial landscapes and aquatic life, and human well-being. 

Indigenous Peoples are particularly subjected to both climate change impacts and land rights violations by State and corporate interests and are especially exposed to impacts of climate change and from land violations because their traditional ways of living, cultural identities, knowledge systems, ontologies, and spiritualities, which are essential for their existence, self-determination, livelihoods and well-being are inherently interconnected with their territories.