Increases in male self-abuse have been linked to natural disasters. Picture: stock
DOMESTIC violence and male self-abuse are increasing in the wake of natural disasters, emergency management services and first responders heard.
They had gathered in Sydney for AFAC24, Australasia’s biggest emergency management conference and exhibition, which ran from September 3-6.
Among the speakers were GADAus, a national organisation which provides evidence-based education, training and resources to address the harmful impact of gender expectations in disasters.
They train people and organisations to help control violence, abuse and discrimination against women, children and LGBTIQA+ people, and men’s self-harm and suicide, before, during, and after emergencies and disasters.
“Domestic violence, and men’s mental ill-health increase after catastrophic disaster,” says GADAus Executive Director Dr Debra Parkinson.
She adds that the needs of LGBTIQA+ people are often neglected as well.
“Our research over 15 years indicates that disaster impacts can be severe and long-lasting for women, men, and non-binary people,” she says.
GADAus trainer and a firefighter with 30 years’ experience, Steve O’Malley says firefighters don’t want to be heroes; they want communities to be better prepared and to heed warnings to leave.
“One of the best ways to prepare is to know how individuals respond to pressure, regardless of their gender, and let people play to their strengths,” he says.
“Not all men want to be the protector and it doesn’t serve everyone’s best interests if women are expected to put their needs last.
“Our GADAus training can help communities and first responders free themselves and others from gendered expectations so they can more effectively respond to disasters and to take care of each other in the aftermath,” Mr O’Malley says.
GADAus received a Commonwealth grant under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and their Children 2022-32 to train 1000 responders over four years – and surpassed that target in just two years.
GADAus also advises local government on planning safer evacuation and relief centres; they recently received extra funding from the Commonwealth Disaster Ready Grants to work with every council in Victoria, and disaster high-risk councils in NSW, to help make evacuation centres safer for everyone.
GADAus offers online and in-person Lessons in Disaster (LIDs) training across Australia to first responders, emergency management responders, health and community services, and disaster-prone communities, to develop greater understanding of how gendered stereotypes and expectations are exacerbated in disasters and harmful, to help improve disaster management and survival outcomes.
