IS THIS JUSTICE

PLIGHT OF DISABLED WOMEN IN GOPALPUR ORISSA

You will remember, the super cyclone of 1999, which played havoc in costal Orissa. The state was also hit by tsunami in December 2004.

Visiting this region in early 2010 I found that people have lost their livelihoods, migration pattern has changed and that the verse affected are disabled people amongst others.

Women with disability in Gopalpur area do not do any work. They are afraid of cyclones and floods as they are dependent and cannot run at the instance of any calamity. Their parents or guardians look after most of the ladies.

Migration is high, as most of them have lost their livelihood due to poor fish habitation in the area and changing aquatic behavior. When people migrate they are forced to take along children and disabled with them.

At the work site, disabled girls are left behind alone and are vulnerable to physical abuse and prone to sexually transmitted disease and HIV.

What does this teach us?

1. Increased climatic change leads to people loosing livelihood;
2. Loss of livelihood leads to migration;
3. Migration has its own ill effects on individuals;
4. Disabled people are doubly vulnerable in such situation;
5. Women with disabilities are exploited;

There is no justice; climate change leads to many other consequences “Unimaginable and less known”.



Praveen Kumar G