Goodman, Helen, and Cottrell, Alison (2012) Responding to a fire threat, gender roles, dependency and responsibility. In: Paton, Douglas, and Tedim, Fantina, (eds.) Wildfire and Community: facilitating preparedness and resilience. Charles C Thomas Publisher, Springfield, Illinois, USA, pp. 281-299.

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Abstract

The context in which many members of the public make decisions in relation to the threat posed by a hazard event, is usually at the household level (Proudley, 2008). This is a distinctly social context (Goodman & Proudley, 2008); within households there exists a complex set of roles and relationships, which are severely tested when a response such as to a fir threat is required to be made. Fordham & Ketteridge (1998) have argued that disasters offer a situation where the vulnerabilities engendered in roles become most explicit (see also Blaikie, Cannon, Davis & Wisner, 1994). "The gendering of roles and behaviour in disasters and disaster planning impacts on women and men in similarly hidden ways, lessening the effectiveness of disaster preparedness and management" (p. 83). This chapter reports on an Australian case study of the different and sometimes hidden gendered responses of men and women to a ast, high intensity fire, for which there was little warning. We hope the detail of the residents reports of their decision-making at the household level will assist other community members in making links between their own household dynamics and the implications of these for their planning for household disaster response. We believe that an increased gender sensitivity (and we are speaking here of both genders) will also assist in targeting appropriately nuanced approaches in community safety across planning and policy frameworks, practice guidelines, communication tools, and training and education.

Item ID:	24810
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN:	978-0-398-08842-2
Date Deposited:	01 Feb 2013 06:54
FoR Codes:	16 STUDIES IN HUMAN SOCIETY > 1604 Human Geography > 160403 Social and Cultural Geography @ 100%
SEO Codes:	96 ENVIRONMENT > 9603 Climate and Climate Change > 960302 Climate Change Mitigation Strategies @ 100%
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