ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors focus on gender as a critical marker of vulnerability. They introduce the idea of conducting a vulnerability assessment to assess levels of vulnerability within the community. The authors discuss factors shaping vulnerability. They argue that vulnerability is influenced by factors that shape one’s place in the world – gender, education, employment, access to resources, family structure, sexuality, for example – and is framed by circumstances. The authors show that the notion of intersectionality gives a far more nuanced understanding of factors that shape vulnerability/resilience in different circumstances at different times. They explain the concepts of social vulnerability and resilience to provide a deeper understanding of people’s capacity to adapt disasters. Once the immediate crisis phase is over the intermediate phase will allow social workers to assist people to lay the foundations for the future, to address locally embedded inequalities and to build resilient people and structures.
