Environmental social work : accounting for women's tragedies in the face of climate change-induced disasters in Chimanimani District, Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper aimed to explore the repercussions of Cyclone Idai on women in Chimanimani District, Zimbabwe. There is a ubiquitous consensus in literature on gender and climate change that natural disasters have a different gender impact on men and women. In 2019, Zimbabwe was hit by torrential rains coupled with strong winds that triggered floods and mudslides, which resulted in loss of lives, displacements, destruction of infrastructure and disruption of livelihoods. This unprecedented disaster left some footprints of psychosocial distress, trauma, emotional malaise and health repercussions in the lives of its victims in Chimanimani where women were the hardest hit. The daunting impact of Cyclone Idai on women in Chimanimani falls within the context of the environmental social work practice where social workers foster healing and recovery, effective coping mechanisms and assessment of the aftermath of disasters to individuals and communities. This study was qualitative in nature, guided by the multi-case study design which operates within the traditional framework of exploratory research. A total number of twenty-five participants from Nyatanda and Pondo Rescue Camps comprising of women survivors of the disaster and social workers were purposively sampled to participate in the study. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were adopted as data collection methods. The findings were analysed through the thematic content analysis. This study established that the gendered impacts of Cyclone Idai on women received little attention in post-disaster assessment, recovery, evaluation and intervention. Nonetheless, this paper argues that in post-disaster analysis, women/girls should be identified as special populations at risk for disaster relief and recovery services and social workers have adequate expertise to execute such assignments.