Hurricane María underscored that natural disasters deliver a disproportionate blow to women. In Puerto Rico, the disruption of modern water and electrical infrastructure cast this phenomenon into stark relief: as households lost the most basic services, it fell more to women to do the arduous labor of caretaking and maintaining households without water and power. In the rural highlands, Oxfam found women shouldering extraordinary physical, financial, and emotional burdens—but also leading the way to new approaches to sustainable and resilient alternatives.
Authors: Christiana Smyrilli, Pamela Silva, Lenulisy Rosado, Martha Thompson and Omar Crespo.
Source: OXFAM
