Climate change is not just an environmental crisis. It is also fueling a hidden emergency: gender-based violence (GBV). Women and girls, already among the most vulnerable groups in Pakistan, are disproportionately affected when disasters strike.

Kaveeta Kolhi, a 45-year-old peasant woman from Masood Abad village near Bodar Farm in Taluka Umerkot, Sindh, recalled the devastation of the 2022 floods. The disaster destroyed her home, wiped out her crops, and killed her family’s livestock. Displaced and left without protection, her family became increasingly vulnerable. “Men used to stare at our girls and would inappropriately touch them at times when we sought shelter,” Kaveeta told Dawn.com. Many families suffered similar ordeals but chose silence out of fear of “dishonour.”

Stories like Kaveeta’s are not isolated. They are part of a larger, deeply concerning pattern. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), GBV consists of harmful acts directed at individuals based on gender, rooted in inequality, the abuse of power, and harmful social norms. Displacement, food insecurity, and socio-economic instability, all worsened by climate change, magnify these risks.

The numbers are staggering. Women comprise 80 percent of those displaced by climate change and are 14 times more likely to die in a climate disaster than men. A 2023 study covering India, Pakistan, and Nepal tracked nearly 195,000 women aged 15 to 49 and found that just a one-degree Celsius rise in annual temperature led to a six percent increase in physical and sexual violence. Similar patterns have been documented worldwide, from Kenya to Spain, linking climate extremes to spikes in intimate partner violence, femicide, and harassment.

This crisis cannot remain invisible. Pakistani women, particularly those in rural and vulnerable communities, bear the heaviest burden of both climate impacts and gender-based violence. They deserve protection, safety, and justice.

We call on the Government of Pakistan, civil society, NGOs, INGOs, NDMA, PDMAs and youth-led organizations to coordinate efforts to:

1. Establish safe shelters and protection services for women and girls during climate-related displacement.
2. Train local disaster response teams to prioritize women’s safety.
3. Develop gender-sensitive policies within national climate action and disaster management plans.
4. Work with grassroots organizations to amplify women’s voices in climate and disaster response strategies.

By signing this petition, you are demanding urgent action to protect women and girls from the dual threats of climate change and gender-based violence. Their safety cannot wait.

Sign now to stand with women like Kaveeta and ensure no woman suffers violence in the shadows of a climate disaster.