Sandford, R. and C. Schuster-Wallace. (2016). Hot and Bothered: Water and Women in a Warming World. Solutions 7(6): 18-23. https://thesolutionsjournal.com/article/hot-and-bothered-water-and-women-in-a-warming-world/
Perspectives Hot and Bothered: Water and Women in a Warming World by Robert Sandford and Corinne Schuster-Wallace
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s a consequence of our growing numbers and needs, any meaningful chance of sustainable human presence on this planet now depends upon geopolitical stability. The factors that determine geopolitical stability have changed over time and continue to do so. In the 19th century, stable control of territory and the populations within were the principal determinants of whether peace or conflict prevailed. In the 20th century, however, reliable control of oil supply replaced occupied land as the dominant geopolitical determinant of peace, stability, and economic growth. While oil may remain important in some regions, the main determinant of peace and stability in changing global climate circumstances is water security. The quality and availability of water have become key elements and drivers of the global security agenda. Water security is as critical to food and energy security as it is to climate stability and is therefore central to societal stability and national sovereignty.1 Emerging issues related to a growing global water crisis are tied directly to widespread environmental degradation and the accelerated decline of natural Earth-system function globally. The hydrological system is driven by solar energy, which is why climate change is having such an impact on the timing, duration, intensity, and type of precipitation around the world. Water vapor is a greenhouse gas, and snow and ice reflect solar energy back to space, so changes in these also drive climate change.2 Issues of water security also have roots, however, in the failure of adequate governance; the breakdown of the rule of law; and, in the erosion of established national security principles. Women and
children mostly, but not exclusively, in poor regions of the world, disproportionately bear the consequences of these failures. Globalization of international governance further distances vulnerable women from opportunities to advance their own dignity and equity. Such people continue to be left out of decisions which are often made far beyond their borders yet relate to the economic future of the places in which they live. Fundamentally, there is also a difference when a gendered lens is applied to water use. Men are typically involved in the management and commercial use of water, while women are typically involved in the day-to-day use of water in the domestic realm. It is interesting to examine the differences between the United States and Europe in matters related to constitutional rights. The United States often promotes the rights of individuals above the rights of the collective. In Europe, decision processes are more likely to focus on bringing benefits to the most, not the least. American corporations have insisted on the notion that individual rights trump collective rights, and that their legal status as individuals should pertain in their dealings around the world. These, and other multinational corporations, have gone to great lengths to embed these individual rights in international trade agreements. In this way corporate interests have been allowed to supersede the interests of millions of people—women and children, disproportionately—who bear the consequences of, but never benefit from, actions that often lead to further threats to water security and climate stability where they live. This is a human rights violation
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on a global scale. In contrast, in Indigenous communities the right of the collective clearly supersedes the rights of the individual, and yet, their collective rights to water have often been threatened by other political and economic considerations. Further, in some countries, collective rights significantly disadvantage women. In patriarchal societies in particular, women are unlikely to own property, have direct access to money, or to compete in the water marketplace where water is commodified. This can create tensions between women’s priorities to satisfy domestic water needs, and access to resources to be able to meet these needs. While in many cultures, the male has a responsibility to provide for their family, a rights approach may not accurately portray a woman’s water reality. Another of the many ways disadvantaged women and children are further discriminated against is through government orchestration of land theft. In the wake of decades of efforts to reverse the effects of colonialism on human rights, new forms continue to emerge. Wealthy, but water-stressed countries have started quietly—and in some cases, secretly—buying up millions of hectares of agricultural land in other countries in order to assure future food security for themselves. Subsistence farmers, which in many cases are predominantly women, are displaced. The numbers of refugees from such places continues to grow. Meanwhile, speculators, terrorists, and criminals are lining up around the world to exploit global food and water scarcity. If current trends persist, conflict over water and food is likely to be widespread. Women and children will