Unfortunately, the news is all too-often filled with reports of "natural" disasters all over our planet. The eyes of the world have recently been focused on Haiti. Often when such disasters hit, there are plenty of news reports about people from coming together to help out, sending food, money, supplies, volunteering, etc. So it would seem that our actions post-disaster are a great example of humanity exercising its more humane qualities, such as compassion, kindness and generosity. What has remained unrevealed for some time, but has begun to receive wider attention in recent years, is the sheer number of atrocities, cruelties and injustices that arise for humans, animals and the planet during (and after) natural disasters.
Human Rights
According to the “Operational Guidelines and Field Manual on Human Rights Protection in Situations of Disaster” (pdf, 2008) some of the human rights challenges that come into effect after a natural disaster include:
“unequal access to assistance; discrimination in aid provision; enforced relocation; sexual and gender-based violence; loss of documentation; recruitment of children into fighting forces; unsafe or involuntary return or resettlement; and issues of property restitution.” (1)
The report also says that “experience has shown that, while patterns of discrimination and disregard for economic, social and cultural rights may already emerge during the emergency phase of a disaster, the longer the displacement situation lasts, the greater the risk of human rights violations.” (1)
Already, human rights and other organizations are calling for a halt to adoptions in an attempt to thwart child traffickers who are taking advantage of the devastating situation in Haiti.
Reports of the disaster in Myanmar in 2008 revealed government interference, such as the ruling junta in Myanmar seizing food aid shipments; and abuse and high risk for children, including being recruited or kidnapped into serving as child soldiers.
The tsunami of 2005 in southeast Asia brought an increase in incidences of rape, gang rape, physical abuse and other violence against women and children, along with them enduring “basic health problems due to a lack of personal hygiene products and maternal care.”
Research from the London School of Economics & Politics revealed that “more women die than men as the direct and indirect result of natural disasters” in countries “with very low social and economic rights for women.”
Reasons for such human rights abuses include, according to one report, the collapse of traditional society support mechanisms, prevailing attitudes toward women, alcohol and drug abuse, psychological strain, the lack of family or community protection, and fewer police or other safety officials.
There is also the danger of other countries and corporations using disasters to profit, as well as the significant impact of issues like poverty and interference from other governments.
Media & Culture
The issue of what gets covered in the media after such disasters and how has also been raised. For example, some media have been criticized for characterizing desperate Haitians as "looters" and for their "treatment of sufferers as criminals, both on the ground and in the news, and the endorsement of a shift of resources from rescue to property patrol." During the 2008 Myanmar disaster, a blog post on Racialicious, called “The Brown and the Dead” explored CNN’s graphic coverage of the Myanmar tragedy, showing numerous shots of dead bodies lying on shorelines, many next to dead animals. As the Racialicious blogger said upon seeing the footage, “This video desecration of the already desecrated was another example of how American culture sees brown people as somehow less human.” and “What are the chances that CNN will show the broken bodies of the 22 people killed in twisters that plowed across the central United States this weekend, y’know so we get ‘the enormity of the story?’ We did not need to see graphic footage of victims to understand the enormity of Oklahoma City or 9/11.” However, some blog commenters from a Huffington Post article about the footage have stated that it’s important for Westerners to see such footage in order to demonstrate that “this is reality and the U.S. public needs a dose of it everyday.”
Animal Protection
While the plight of animals during and after disasters is gaining increased attention, most communities still have no policies or plans in place for protecting, rescuing, harboring or relocating animals in cases of disaster. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 pushed this issue to world headlines when more than 250,000 pets (and countless other animals on farms, in labs, etc.) were abandoned. And, after the 2007 earthquake in Peru, hundreds of pets and farmed animals were abandoned. In situations like Haiti, where most people are struggling just to survive, the concern for animals tends to become ancillary.
Environmental Preservation
Aside from the obvious physical destruction to the natural world that occurs with disasters like earthquakes, cyclones, floods and volcanic eruptions, there are greater and broader-viewed issues. For example, according to the WorldWatch report Beyond Disasters: Creating Opportunities for Peace, there is a growing realization that “disasters are caused by human impacts on the natural environment as well as by short-sighted and inappropriate development patterns, settlements in increasingly vulnerable areas, and socioeconomic divides and inequities.” For example, most of Haiti is deforested, which has amplified the destruction and has contributed to problems of erosion, lack of water, and more. In Myanmar, mangrove swamps used to provide a barrier between the ocean and villages. Now, however, farms and shrimp ponds have destroyed most of them. Of course, there’s the prominent example of the occurrence of more natural disasters due to increased climate catastrophe, which is significantly connected to our fossil-fuel culture. And then there’s the destructive loop of disaster victims continuing to damage the natural world as they struggle to survive under new and horrific conditions.
And, out of this human-created environmental meltdown, another concept is emerging, the “envirogee” or “climate refugee,” people who are displaced from their homes due to environmental conditions that are causing catastrophe, from desertification to flooding to food scarcity to water shortages.
While maintaining healthy ecosystems to help protect us during times of disaster looks to “prevention,” some people are also calling for using disasters as a method of system-wide change. When communities crumble, they say, rebuild them sustainably.
Although what we as individuals can do when disaster strikes for those in another part of the world is somewhat limited (sending donations to reputable organizations, volunteering our expertise, lobbying for debt relief, working for positive policy changes, etc.), we have much more power to influence own communities. Exploring the impacts and consequences of natural disasters is an excellent time to bring awareness to emergency preparedness for ourselves, our families, our animal companions, and those around us, as well as to talk about how we can make our own communities more sustainable and secure against such disasters.
In addition to preparing ourselves for such unexpected events, we can also work to ensure that our daily choices have a restorative, sustainable, just, compassionate impact on all people, animals and the planet. Since more disasters are arising due to the influence of human activities, we can examine our own choices and behaviors, exploring how we can do the most good and least harm for all people, animals and the planet.
~ Marsha
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with the title January 2010. You can bookmark this page URL https://actuosa-participatio.blogspot.com/2010/01/unnatural-disasters-cruelty-injustice.html. Thanks!
I’ve just spent a week traveling to British Columbia and Seattle to offer humane education and MOGO (Most Good) workshops. In BC, I first gave a talk at the Vancouver Public Library, and I brought up my idea for solutionary teams in schools to exist alongside debate teams. (I’ve written about this idea in a previous blog post. I was surprised when one of the attendees said that in BC it’s uncommon to have debate clubs or teams at school.
