Although separated by a thousand miles, the women of the Malaysian state of Sarawak and the Filipino island of Mindoro are united by a major struggle: climate change. As rainfall patterns grow increasingly unpredictable, natural disasters become more frequent, and drought ravages once-arable land, women are on the frontlines in both communities.

ARROW, a non-profit based in Malaysia, has partnered with the PATH Foundation and the Penita Initiative to produce several short films and scoping studies that explore the links between women’s vulnerability to climate change and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). In the short documentary, The Women of Sarawak and Mindoro: The Invisible Battle of Climate Change, women leaders in these communities describe how dwindling food supplies, scarce natural resources, and disasters are uniquely affecting their lives and how access to family planning and reproductive health care can make a difference.

On the Frontlines

Families in Mindoro depend on coastal resources for their livelihoods and sustenance. Fishing families tend to not only have more children, but are also the poorest of the poor, according to Dr. Joan Castro of the NGO PATH Foundation Philippines. Sea-level rise, increased sea surface temperatures, and increased storm frequency, in addition to changes in fish breeding, habitats, and migration paths, have led to a decrease in fish catch. At the same time, high unmet need for family planning (19 percent nationwide) is keeping population growth rates high. A 2011 family health survey conducted in Mindoro showed a contraceptive prevalence rate, or the number of women using at least one method of contraception, of just 40 percent.

“With less fish coming in, causing less income, families are not able to provide for their children’s needs, including their education,” the film explains. “Their children end up with the same hardship that their parents have gone through, taking over the same jobs.”

This imbalance “creates a vicious cycle of poverty and leaves [women] vulnerable to disaster,” according to ARROW. As the traditional caregivers, women face higher risks of malnutrition as they prioritize feeding the children, their husbands, and other family members. The competition for scarce household resources is worsened by natural disasters. Female infanticide is 15 times higher in the wake of typhoons as families struggle to recover from overwhelming economic losses and give boys and older siblings a greater share of food and medicine.

The women of Sarawak face a slightly different, but no less devastating challenge. Deforestation and heavy rainfall have led to severe flooding; at the same time, many men have left for the mainland to search for better jobs. During these floods, not only does the onus fall on women to provide for their families but they are also vulnerable to sexual violence, says Uring Wan, a woman from Sarawak. Women and girls, some as young as 10 years old, have suffered sexual violence and exploitation by timber workers, including rape and domestic abuse, ARROW says. As logging displaces traditional travel routes, women are left with riskier options, such as using logging vehicles or walking by foot through deforested land.

The right of girls and women to their bodies is an important element of SRHR, and gender-based violence is exacerbated even more when they have poor access to reproductive health care. “It is clear that SRHR is an important priority for climate change action and dialogue,” says Sunitha Bisan, founder of the Penita Intiative. “It is central to [women’s] social and cultural identity, and a key to [empowering] resiliency.”

Making the Invisible Visible in Bangladesh

In concert with the film series (The Women of Sarawak and Mindoro is one of three short documentaries), ARROW conducted scoping studies on the connection between SRHR and climate change in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Bangladesh’s high population density, coupled with extreme poverty (84 percent of the population earns less than $2 a day), makes it particularly vulnerable to erratic rainfall, increased flooding, and coastal erosion. According to ARROW’s study, women are more susceptible to the impacts of climate change due to gender inequality. ARROW found that social norms prevent women from learning how to swim, reducing their chances of surviving a flood. When disaster strikes, family planning services are not readily available and “pregnant women are at risk of death and injury.” Disaster relief packages often do not include contraceptives and sanitary products, and sexual harassment “takes place on the way to shelters where they lack gender-friendly sanitation facilities.”

The study tells the story of Ismot, an 18-year-old woman from Borobil, a fishing community on the coast of Bangladesh. Within two months of her marriage she became pregnant. At the same time, a natural disaster devastated her village. “Gradually I had fallen ill as I did not get proper health support and services during the disaster period,” said Ismot. “At one stage, in the eighth month of my pregnancy I had a miscarriage since my physical state of my body could not take it anymore.”

ARROW suggests the Bangladesh government integrate gender considerations, like SRHR and sensitivity to the ongoing issue of child marriage, into climate change policies. There must also be a more efficient system of training and capacity-building for government officials to build expertise in gender-sensitive climate planning and preventing gender-based violence during disasters. The study urges NGOs to carry out grassroots awareness campaigns on SRHR and climate change and on how citizens can become more active in preparedness and response. Finally, digital and social media can be leveraged to promote behavior change efforts and awareness.

“Women Aren’t Waiting”

“Women are really the true champions for climate change actions,” Bisan says in the film. “They are coping – they aren’t waiting for someone to tell them, ‘you should do this’… They are finding technologies, they are finding ways forward, and they are working very hard at the ground level.”

At the village level, ARROW points to women who are mobilizing their families and their communities to adopt more sustainable farming practices, such as planting mangroves to prevent floods and preserve fish habitats. Women are increasingly advocating for better health and SRHR services themselves as well as livelihood opportunities to ensure financial security and the ability to send their children to school.

“Recognizing women’s voices by making policies through a gender-responsive approach can make a community stronger and prepared for a continuously changing world,” Bisan concludes.