Giving Compass' Take:

• Ammar A. Malik and Jared Stolove explain how the women of South Asian slums suffer due to climate change compounded by sexism. 

• How can funders direct their climate change relief efforts in light of these gender realities? 

• Learn how education for women is a path to fight climate change.

The environmental side effects of climate change, which include floods, droughts, and diseases, increasingly affect people and communities across the world. In developing parts of South Asia, these environmental crises are particularly felt by women.

A new study by the Urban Institute demonstrates that stressors brought by climate change may lead to increased domestic abuse and sleep deprivation among impoverished women.

Impoverished women in developing countries face enormous challenges. Women shoulder almost all domestic responsibilities, including child care, cooking, and caring for the elderly. Impoverished women who take on jobs to support their families are often only able to get informal work in a few sectors, and they must continue to meet their domestic responsibilities.

Climate change affects every aspect of their lives: their financial security, their marriage, and their physical well-being. Anshula Bibi, a young woman from the Ghazipur slum in Delhi, bemoaned,

“The heat is scorching during summers. The overhead sun is unbearable in the afternoon, and it is hard to work, as most of my work is outside sorting through the garbage. I even have to skip work on some days.”

Read the full article about climate change and women by Ammar A. Malik and Jared Stolove at Urban Institute.