Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/2440/124163
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Type: | Journal article |
Title: | Gendered perception and vulnerability to climate change in urban slum communities in Accra, Ghana |
Author: | Owusu, M. Nursey-Bray, M. Rudd, D. |
Citation: | Regional Environmental Change, 2019; 19(1):13-25 |
Publisher: | Springer-Verlag |
Issue Date: | 2019 |
ISSN: | 1436-3798 1436-378X |
Statement of Responsibility: | Mensah Owusu, Melissa Nursey-Bray, Diane Rudd |
Abstract: | Climate change is known to have differential impacts in the Global South, with gender and poverty being determining factors. In Ghana, both these factors come into play as women living in slums bear the brunt of the impacts. In spite of this, the majority of research in gender and climate change adaptation has focused on rural communities to the detriment of their poor urban counterparts. Using a critical feminist intersectional approach, this study investigates how the interplay between gender, socio economic, institutional and place-based factors shapes vulnerability to climate change in three slums in urban Accra, Ghana. The results demonstrate that while climate change poses serious environmental hazards to all residents of slums, their perceptions and knowledge regarding the causes and impacts of these hazards are differentiated by gender, age, educational status and place-based variables, with women generally showing a lower level of awareness about climate change than their male counterparts. The results indicate further that irrespective of age, educational attainment and where people live, women were found to be overall more vulnerable, despite experiencing similar levels of exposure as the men, by virtue of their limited access to productive resources, poor conditions of housing, low participation in adaptation decision-making, as well as the heavy domestic responsibilities placed on them. We conclude that it is imperative for adaptation policy makers to formulate and implement appropriate adaptive measures in a gender-sensitive and context-specific manner to respond to the different vulnerabilities faced by different categories of social groups and communities in cities of the Global South. |
Keywords: | Gender; Urban slum; Climate risk perception; Intersectionality; Vulnerability to climate change; Accra; Ghana |
Description: | Published online: 5 July 2018 |
Rights: | © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s10113-018-1357-z |
Published version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10113-018-1357-z |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest 3 Geography, Environment and Population publications |
Files in This Item:
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hdl_124163.pdf | Accepted version | 1.03 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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