Climate Justice and Migration: Experiences of Flood-Induced Women in Ravi River Basin, Lahore

Abstract

Floods have become more frequent and sever in Pakistan because of climate-induced, posing serious environmental and social justice challenges. Frequent floods in Ravi River basin of Lahore have resulted into large scale displacement and women have taken the major share of the burden due to gender inequalities, which were already existing. This paper, in a climate justice context, explores the interaction of environmental risk, gender, and socioeconomic inequality that runs through structural vulnerabilities to determine the migrant experiences of women affected by floods. The research design applied in this study is qualitative research that adopts an interpretivist paradigm. Ten (10) women living in the Ravi River area of Lahore in flood-laid villages were interviewed in-depth, in semi-structured interviews. Displaced and migratory people were also identified using snowball sampling. The informed consent was carried out in all interviews, which then were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Braun and Clarke reflective thematic analysis was used to analyse the information and identify patterns and meanings that appeared repeatedly in the discourses of the participants. In the study, relocation caused by climate had significant effects on the livelihood of women, their social networks and access to important services. Economic insecurity, inadequate living conditions, and poor access to healthcare and sanitary systems were noted by participants during and after relocation. Women were more vulnerable to gender norms as they restricted their autonomy in making their migration decisions and having access to the relief resources. Also, there was a higher risk of exploitation, instability, and social marginalization in temporary settlements. With these challenges, women were resilient and employed community-based support system, informal network, and adaptive coping mechanisms. Its results have shown that there is an urgent need to integrate gender-sensitive approaches into climate change adaptation and migration policy. Resolving the problem of disproportionate burden on women demands climate justice worldview that emphasizes on equality, inclusion, and women as proactive agents and not passive victims. Policymakers and stakeholders should make sure that there is fair access to resources, come up with social protection structures, as well as enhance the participation of women in decision making on disasters and climate adaptation. The long-term gendered impacts of climate-induced migration and ways of having sustainable and equitable resilience should be studied in the future.