(A294) Women Widowed in the Disaster – A Psychosocial Perspective

Abstract

Disasters refer to collective stress situations that happen or at least manifest themselves suddenly in a particular geographic area, involve some degree of loss, interfere with the ongoing social life of the community, and are subject to human management (Gist and Lubin, 1989). The World Disaster Report (2001) has reported that about 211 million people are affected by natural disasters every year and the poorest are becoming more exposed to disaster risks and disasters set back the development process by decades. The Tsunami imposed a huge burden on the community not only physically but also in terms of psychological trauma inflicted on them. Asia remained the most affected continent. Nine of the top 10 countries with the highest number of disaster-related deaths were in Asia. Women play an integral part in the functioning of societies, with established roles and rules. Enerson (1998) in her review of twenty years of disaster studies reports study findings that show that women are progressively vulnerable. The vulnerability of women stems due to the pre existing social epi- centres. Vulnerable woman-headed households generally consist of women with severely handicapped husbands and young children, handicapped women, widows, and young single women. The widows have to bear and go through the grief of the loss of their spouse. They have the burden of increased responsibility towards their surviving children, aged parents/ in laws and other family members. The current study focus on understanding the impact of widowhood in the after math of the disaster.