Contribution short abstract:

Two narrative reviews on the impacts of environmental and climate stressors on social, economic, and health outcomes for girls and women in South Asia underscore that climate stressors exacerbate existing gender inequalities and that a longer-term view is needed to understand impacts.

Contribution long abstract:

We analyzed two narrative reviews of the literature to understand the salient environmental and climate stressors that are particularly relevant to social, economic, and health and well-being for adolescent girls and women in the South Asia context.

Short-term effects include those of the aftermath of extreme weather events (EWE), or what we refer to as sudden-onset stressors; in South Asia, these are largely floods, droughts, and cyclones, which are linked to gender inequitable outcomes such as early marriage, trafficking, and gender-based violence. Of the eight countries included in the review, most studies were undertaken in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The most common outcomes covered by studies included in the review were mental and psychological health, followed by sexual and reproductive health, and food security and nutritional status.

Longer-term effects, which are spurred by what we refer to as slow-onset stressors, included drought, temperature variability, and rainfall variability. Studies included in the review from the South Asia context cover outcomes including sexual and reproductive health, agriculture (with an emphasis in livelihoods, land ownership, and climate-induced livelihoods migration), and the social roles of women in girls in education and in household decision-making.

The results of both reviews help to elucidate pathways by which environmental and climate stressors exacerbate and create gender inequitable outcomes. More longer-term studies are necessary to capture the ranging effects of slow-onset stressors. Taken together, these reviews inform a need to incorporate a climate justice lens into existing gender and empowerment frameworks.