Women and displacement: a case study of women displaced by Ganga erosion in Malda district of West Bengal in India

Priyanka Dutta, Institute for Social and Economic Change

The problem of shifting Ganga river course in Malda district of West Bengal in India and the consequent erosion of riverbanks in certain blocks her accounts for a very significant percentage of displacement and a considerable number of them are women. It has been seen from the field-survey that even though this kind of disaster and the subsequent displacement of human population affect both men and women, it is women who have suffered more because of their role of homemaker, looking after the children, caring for the old, sick and other pregnant women in the household. Again, it has been seen that women are not a homogenous category and the degree of their vulnerability displacement situation depended on their socially significant personal attributes as well household attributes. The study also reveals that the State policies and the representation of these displaced women on the mainstream media are also highly-gender insensitive.