Citation

Enarson E. Int. J. Mass Emerg. Disasters 1999; 17(1): 39-63.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, International Sociological Association, International Research Committee on Disasters)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper examines housing as part of a larger project to illuminate "shadow risks and hidden damages" and to specify root causes reproducing women's disaster vulnerability in developed nations, among them the gendered division of labor, economic dependency, male violence, and housing insecurity. I begin with a theoretical grounding of disaster housing in gender relations and global development patterns and then focus on United States, drawing on Census data and qualitative field studies to address two key questions. First, what structural trends and patterns suggest women's housing insecurity in this context? Second, what emergency management issues emerge from empirical investigations of women's disaster housing experiences? I draw examples from two U.S. case studies to illustrate how housing in the disaster context is a highly gendered issue. The final section outlines women's housing needs and strategic interests and offers guidelines to practitioners.