Investigation published last year by Ipasa US-based NGO focusing on reproductive justice, found that global warming exacerbated existing gender inequalities and directly and indirectly affected women’s sexual health, pregnancy outcomes, contraceptive use, and fertility intentions in Bangladesh and Mozambique, two climate vulnerable countries.
The report found that during extreme weather events made worse by climate change, such as cyclones, access to healthcare and contraceptives was limited. The researchers also found that the climate crisis deepened economic instability and added additional burdens to women’s caregiving responsibilities.
In some cases, that could mean women must take on risky jobs to support their families, said Sally Dijkerman, a senior research scientist at Ipas who worked on the report.
“As a woman, you may be forced to wade in waist-deep water where you fish for fingerlings to feed your family, and those rivers have been polluted not only by cyclones and the destruction of sanitation systems, but also because of the sea level is rising and putting more and more salinization in the water,” he said. “That directly impacts their reproductive organs, causing infections, cancers and injuries.”
In Satkhira, saltwater intrusion has prevented access to drinking water, according to Akhter.
“There is not a single drop of fresh water in the entire area,” he said. «It takes two hours to get fresh water.»
Fatima Idris Eva, a medical officer in the Satkhira town of Shyamnagar, said she has noticed an increase in the number of patients, including men, with sexual or reproductive diseases in the past two years. This includes women who report irregular periods, discharge and sores around the uterus, according to Eva.
«The water in different areas of Shyamnagar is excessively salty,» he said in Bengali. “Here we receive many patients who have uterine problems due to the use of salt water. It’s alarming.»
But the burden for some women can come long before weather-related health problems develop. Poor families may force their daughters to drop out of school to work, or choose to marry off their daughters at an early age to ease financial stress. Akhter said she stopped going to school herself and got married after Cyclone Aila, which hit Bangladesh in 2009, left her parents in financial crisis.
“This salt water has destroyed my childhood, school and life,” he said.
Twelve-year-old Sakila Akhtar also had her childhood years stolen from her to help lift her family out of poverty. She said that she once dreamed of becoming a politician to change the fate of people in her hometown, but now she is the mother of a one and a half year old girl.
“I wanted to discover the world in many ways and know how to do many things like handicrafts, but now I have to work as a day laborer with my baby in my arms,” Akhtar said in an interview in Bengali. “My father has nothing. I had to accept it and get married. My husband is also poor.»
Akhtar said she has been dealing with irregular periods and heavy flow, and her doctor recommended bathing in fresh water, but there is no water available nearby.
Jahanara Begum, 65, remembers when it wasn’t always like this.
“There was once fresh water available here,” he said in Bengali, adding that he now has to travel more than 4 miles to get clean water.
Even during the monsoon season, homes cannot store enough rainwater to last long periods of time.
Begum said that her husband is sick and she suffers from uterine cancer and diabetes. Prolonged exposure to brackish water has also caused his whole body to itch.
“I see the doctors and take medicine, but there is no solution,” he said. «So many diseases have settled in my body in these few years.»
The risks to women’s reproductive health are projected to increase as cyclones and floods become more frequent and intense due to global warming, and as sea levels continue to rise. Studies suggest that the global average sea level has risen by more than 8 inches since 1880, and scientists have predicted that about 17% of Bangladesh could be submerged by 2050.
“Here, everything is locked in a cyclone,” said 12-year-old Akhtar. “Here, thinking about the future of the people, a storm breaks the house, it also destroys the lives of the people. Here, everyone is happy, but everyone is sick.»