Gender aspects of displacement in the context of climate change
The authors deal with gender aspects of flight in the context of climate change. Climate change-induced mobility between countries is already taking place and will increase in the future. Women are particularly in need of protection, as they are particularly vulnerable to climate change and are also increasingly at risk of (sexualised and gender-specific) violence when they leave their home countries. This need for protection has not yet been sufficiently recognised in the current legal situation.
Citation:
Fontana, S. und Schröder, J. (2024): Genderaspekte von Flucht im Kontext des Klimawandels. djbZ Zeitschrift des Deutschen Juristinnenbundes 27 (3-4), 131-133.
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Key Messages
- There are normative gaps in the protection of women who (have to) cross international borders in the context of climate change.
- Amendments to the law are necessary and are recommended.
- Solutions must first be sought in climate protection and climate adaptation law.
- Furthermore, human rights (especially the right to remain and women's rights) must be strengthened worldwide.
- Finally, targeted additions to refugee, asylum and migration laws are useful.
Reforms are urgently needed
International law does offer protection when women flee in the legal sense and therefore fall under the Geneva Refugee Convention. However, this only applies in a few exceptional cases, such as when a state deliberately directs the adverse consequences of climate change at women or is unwilling or unable to offer women sufficient protection from threats by third parties. Otherwise, human rights or international environmental and climate law offer at best indirect protection. National protection provisions are also not tailored to climate change-related mobility, as they require political persecution, individual endangerment or the loss of natural resources that threatens livelihoods. However, this is likely to be the case for only a small minority of women who cross international borders in the context of climate change.
The authors therefore see a need for reform to better protect these women. Their policy recommendations include adjustments to refugee and asylum law, the creation of climate-specific residence permits, the strengthening of the right to remain and of women's rights, and the promotion of research on the nexus of climate change, mobilities and gender.