January Communique

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January Communiqué

Northern European Conference on Emergency and Disaster Studies Conference

The Victorian Gender and Disaster Taskforce was introduced to the first Northern European Conference on Emergency and Disaster Studies (NEEDS) in Copenhagen last month. Deb's presentation covered the research with disaster responders, women and men, conducted since 2009 and the way this led to the establishment of the GAD Taskforce. A poster presentation on the increase of violence against women after disaster was complemented by a panel interview.

It was heartening that people attending the conference and the women interviewed commented that they were inspired by our work and the shift of the research into action by the emergency management sector in Australia. A highlight was the baby change sign displayed everywhere showing a male figure changing a baby!

Two key disaster writers, Susannah Hoffman and Tony Oliver-Smith, also presented at the conference. Keep an eye out for future editions of the GAD Communique for links to the GAD Pod's interviews with them.

Christine Eriksen presents for the GAD Pod

Dr Eriksen discussed the social dimensions of natural disasters for households, communities and organisations on 20 October 2015 at the GAD Taskforce meeting A major part of this work focuses on the cultural and historical aspects of bushfire vulnerability and resilience. Christine's book 'Gender and Wildfire: Landscapes of Uncertainty' (2014) follows people's stories of surviving, fighting, living and working with bushfire in Australia and USA. She was very warmly received and helped facilitate a lively discussion about developing national gender and emergency guidelines.

Dr Eriksen's presentation

GAD Pod interviews men's family violence worker, Adam

Men's family violence worker Adam was interviewed by the GAD Pod regarding his work with men after disasters. Below is a one minute vignette of Adam talking about how men struggled with vulnerability after the bushfires. For the full interview, click here.

Men's family violence worker discusses how men cope with being vulnerable during disasters

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