Women and children first? An analysis of gender roles in the rescue of people following the 2011 Lorca earthquake

Abstract

Catastrophes like earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis, have a devastating effect which extends beyond personal or material losses and also affect social order. At the same time, there is an increasing amount of scientific evidence demonstrating the impact of disasters on gender relations. This article aims to investigate an issue that to date has not been examined in the Spanish context, namely the gender roles undertaken by men and women in the rescue of people after a catastrophe has occurred. To this end, the discourse from four focus groups of people who experienced the 2011 earthquake in Lorca (Spain) has been analysed. The focus groups were recorded, transcribed and codified with the MAXQDA program and afterwards an interpretative analysis was carried out.The results of this study demonstrate that, although, in principle, the danger should be the same, the lived experiences and reactions of men and women faced with a catastrophic event are often different. Men appear as the principal protagonists of the rescue phase and their way of rescuing as the norm. Despite the fact that women also play an active role in saving people, their protective actions are less visible. In part this is because women do not limit their actions to physical rescue, but also make suggestions and recommendations aimed at helping people around them and often remain with those who are rescued. These findings point to the need to broaden the notion of what rescue involves through incorporating the specific actions of women identified.