Update [2005-3-28 9:12:13 by DuctapeFatwa]:8.2 Quake in Sumatra 3-28-05
Tsunami relief groups face Indonesian crackdown 3-26<br
More when available.
The tsunami that overwhelmed Asia in December killed three times more women than men, and the resulting scarcity of female survivors has led to reports of forced marriages and rape, the British-based charity Oxfam International said Saturday.
Although official statistics do not provide the gender of victims, partial data indicates that many more women than men were among the 300,000 people killed or declared missing after the Dec. 26 tsunami devastated the coastlines of 11 countries around the Indian Ocean.
The impact on women was seen especially in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India. Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the earthquake-generated tsunami, now has villages where men now outnumber women 10-to-1…In some villages it now appears that up to 80 percent of those killed were women,” said Becky Buel, Oxfam’s policy director…women suffered disproportionately because they had a more difficult time outrunning the surging waters or the bad luck of being at home while the men were out at sea fishing or in the fields…
Sri Lankan women reportedly have been sexually assaulted in camp toilets and domestic violence is on the rise, the report found. Indonesian women, according to Oxfam and women activists, are being sexually harassed in camps, forced or rushed into marrying much older men and victimized by abusive Indonesian soldiers, who reportedly have strip-searched them…
“We know of at least three marriages in which women married older widowers. What we don’t know is how forced it was,” said Ines Smyth, gender adviser for Oxfam…
“When we asked them, they say they have an obligation to their family and were frightened for the future. If you lost everything you had, including your family, it’s very difficult to refuse whatever is being offered, whether it’s protection or the possibility of a house.”…
Indonesian activists claim it is difficult to get women to talk about the abuse or report it to authorities. The few women left in coastal settlements interviewed said they were unaware of any abuse, and they were focusing on rebuilding their lives… link
Here’s a related story
Most International Aid Wasted, Say Agencies
Red tape, inefficiency and nepotism mean that only one fifth of international aid actually gets to the people who need it, aid agencies said Monday.
Not only that, but 40 percent of international aid is spent buying overpriced goods and services from the donors’ own countries, Action Aid and Oxfam said in a joint report calling for urgent reform of a politically compromised system.
“First and foremost, they need to spend aid where it is needed — on poverty reduction — rather than channel it to their own consultancy and infrastructure industries and geopolitical allies,” the report said.
It accused the United States and Italy of being the worst culprits in so-called aid “round tripping,” spending some 70 percent of their aid on their own companies.
“This is the ultimate form of round tripping — taking with one hand what is given with the other while advertising your ‘generosity,”‘ it said, noting that the inefficiency involved inflated procurement costs by some $7 billion a year.
One way to get around this is to pass over the big popular western “aid agencies” and try to get as local as you can.
Best of all, get to know people from the areas involved. They are your best source. A while ago, I started a big, disorganized, messy glom of contact info of different agencies and orgs that you can go plow through by clicking here
Are captioned by the MSM as long as it appeals to enough viewers for commercial ends. There is no leadership in the world that focuses on Third World Aid, except for perhaps Japan and the Scandinavian countries.
Worse, much worse beyond any imagination
at dKos Fri Dec 31st, 2004
DISASTER STRIKES ASIA – QUAKE 8.9 – TSUNAMI WAVE
at dKos Sun Dec 26th, 2004
A gender tragedy
Unbalance in small communities, having lost up to 50% of their original inhabitants on the coastline of Aceh.
In excessive numbers women were decimated, clinging on to their small children, lacking the physical strength to battle the torrid current of nature.
A village of 250 persons now reduced to a community of 26 women and 98 male survivors!
As reported this morning: Governments Renege on Aid Promises
Great diary – needs all attention – as tragedy continues!
Oui – Liberté – Égualité – Fraternité
I saw a horrifying report that many of the “women” are actually children, some as young as eight, being forced into predatory marriages or sold for “adoption” which actually turns out to be prostitution. Exploitation on top of tragedy on top of social injustice–makes me doubt a benevolent Creator.
Catholic Relief Services already had people on the ground in Asia and said that they could get supplies to the victims right away. I couldn’t tell from the list in your blog if they’re one of the good groups or not? I hope so, that’s where my donations went. Thanks for keeping this in front of us, right where it needs to be.
is how the impact of natural disasters, like war, hits women and children the hardest. I admit I had not considered this aspect of the effects of the tsunami, and I’m kind of embarrassed. It should have been pretty obvious, as the story points out, women and children were not only slower runners, but more likely to be inside structures when it hit.
On the question of large Christian orgs, I would consider which area one wishes to donate to, and the majority faith tradition in that area. There have been some reports of some charities associating receipt of aid with interest in religious activities, and while certainly not all of them do that, some have felt moved to issue statements to the effect that it is against their policy to do that, considering the situation, and the fact that there is something of a disconnect between how the US is perceived by Americans and how it is perceived in much of the Majority World, my instinct would be to err on the side of caution and look for a small, local org, and I know I said this but it is worth repeating, the best is to get to know people who are from that area, who can hook you up!
Pls see update in diary, more ASAP
I’m praying for everyone in Sumatra this morning. How horrible.