Security in adversity: Highlighting coastal women’s agency and efforts to organize after Haiyan

Abstract

In 2013, Super typhoon Haiyan wreaked havoc on the coastal communities of Northern Iloilo and other areas of the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. Tremendous losses in livelihood and property were recorded and various international, national and local institutions responded through immediate and strategic interventions. The present paper aims to highlight coastal village women’s experiences with post disaster relief and rehabilitation. Using the post-Haiyan experiences of women in the island-village of Bayas as a case study, the paper also emphasizes the opportunity that post-disaster contexts provide for coastal village women’s agency. Qualitative data for the study were gathered through a series of group and key informant interviews with community members and leaders. Since the women in the coastal village of Bayas were not engaged in offshore fishing they did not directly benefit from the various boat replacement assistance efforts extended to fishing families. Thus they organized themselves and lobbied in order to address security and sustainability concerns. Such opportunity for women’s agency in the context of adversity needs to be supported by existing social networks and external institutions lest it be undermined by cultural practices that continue to marginalize and disempower women in coastal areas.