Abstract
Adverse outcomes from 2014 flooding in Serbia indicated problematic response phase management accentuated by a gender imbalance. For this reason, we investigated the risk perceptions and preparedness of women and men regarding these types of events in Serbia. Face-to-face interviews, administered to 2500 participants, were conducted across 19 of 191 municipalities. In light of the current findings, men seemed to be more confident in their abilities to cope with flooding, perceiving greater individual and household preparedness. By contrast, women displayed a deeper understanding of these events. Perhaps owing to a deeper level of understanding, women demonstrated more household-caring attitudes and behaviors and were more prone to report a willingness to help flood victims at reception centers. Emergency management agencies and land planners should account for these differences in gender awareness and preparedness. Based on these findings, doing so may increase citizen participation and shared responsibility under flood hazard scenarios.
Highlights
Gender disparities exert powerful differences within societies worldwide, even in the field of disasters
In order to test the central hypothesis of which gender is a predicting variable in all the stages of the disaster cycle, a multivariate regression analysis was used identifying the extent to which seven independent variables were associated with five socio-economic variables: gender, age, education, marital status, and income
We explored in more detail whether there were some drivers concerning this lack of general awareness from a gender perspective
Summary
Gender disparities exert powerful differences within societies worldwide, even in the field of disasters. Women and men are not merely at risk because of their location in time and place [1] but because of a complex mix of influential factors that include “differentiated roles and responsibilities, skills and capabilities, vulnerabilities, social relations, institutional structures, and long-standing traditions and attitudes” [2]. These social forces are thought to shape different behavioral tendencies, including those related to the ability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters [3]. The social research on disasters has often been approached from a mostly gender-blind perspective, mindful of some basic findings reported in the literature for years (e.g., women are more at risk for psychosocial reactions [8])
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
