This week, my classmate and I presented a very important chapter from a book, “Invisible Women: Exposing data bias in a world designed for men,” by Caroline Criado Perez, a feminist advocate, an award-winning and bestselling writer and campaigner. She explores how gender politics are enhanced and affected by cracks in data gaps. She has a powerful argument that human history includes a pervasive gender gap that ultimately silences women’s needs, since men are used as the standard default. Honestly, I learned so much from this book and from the class in general. I feel as though this isn’t always the case with a lot of required books in college courses.
I’ll list some central points in the chapter, “It’s Not the Diaster That Kills You,” that Perez focused on:
1.) Conflict has gender-specific implications on women’s lives.
2.) Displaced women are more likely to face challenges as refugees.
3.) Women are disproportionately affected by conflict, pandemics and natural disasters.
Sadly, these three issues often go unheard. Perez shared shocking statistics of rape in countries during times of conflict and crisis. During the Rwandan genocide, 250,00 women were raped in three months. It’s predicted that these numbers would’ve been much higher during this conflict and overall during other conflicts.
Women also experience higher levels of domestic abuse in conflicted countries, forcing them to seek safety in other places, like domestic-violence shelters. Safety can be hard to find in these shelters. They put women at a higher risk due to the gender-neutral services, the absence of private restrooms and the exploitation of guards. More women seek refuge in domestic-violence shelters than homeless shelters, which furthers the data gap. But more often than usual, women are trying to escape domestic violence by going to shelters that are supposed to help them.
Post-conflict and disaster relief efforts also fail to take women’s specific healthcare needs into account. After the 2013 typhoon in the Philippines, around 1,000 women were giving birth every day with nearly 150 women experiencing life-threatening conditions due to inadequate resources.
In 2019, only 55% of women in camps had their menstrual needs met with the right products. Refugee women and girls can go years without access to the correct products because funding is not always promised. During Hurricane Katrina, women were displaced and housed in the Louisiana Superdome. During this time of crisis, local rape crises centers were closed, and incidences of women being violated, raped and beaten occurred in the dome. There was no one to help, and still, there is no sufficient data about what happened in there.
Imagine where else around the world this evil, mistreatment occurs. It is heartbreaking. While I read this chapter, my heart hurt for all the women, along with the other people suffering in times of crisis and conflict. I was angry at myself for not learning this information before. That is why I want to spread some of Perez’s merited research and dedication.
We can hope moving forward that women in the Ukraine crisis, along with every other human being, have the proper resources. Unfortunately, this likely will not be the case.
The lack of data about women’s needs, concerns, and life experiences can cause physical harm, death, inequalities in living areas, transportation systems, the workplace, products and other societal situations.
I am fortunate enough to have learned about the historic male bias, power dynamics, intersectionality, privilege and of course, feminism. I really commend Perez and other women who shed light on these important, life-changing circumstances. I hope one day to help take action and help women around the world.
We all should too. And the first step is being aware of what happened before and what is happening now.
Sources:
Perez, Caroline C.,“Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men,” Chapter 16, New York, NY: Abrams Press, 2019.