Blog post 5 of Nusrat Zerin_Disability SRHR &Climate Realities in Bangladesh Listening to the Most Vulnerable Voices.docx

n climate-vulnerable Bangladesh, disasters do not affect everyone equally. Girls and women with disabilities face unique struggles around sexual and reproductive health that remain invisible in most climate responses.- A blog post written by Nusrat Zerin, an educationist, inclusion specialist and disability development professional.

1. Blog post on Disability and Development by Nusrat Zerin
An Educationist, Inclusion Practitioner & Disability Development Professional
2025
Title:
Disability, SRHR, and Climate Realities in Bangladesh: Listening to the Most Vulnerable Voices
By
Nusrat Zerin
Educationist, inclusion specialist, Special Educator & Disability Development Professional
2025
In the hard to reach remote and flood-prone regions of Bangladesh, climate change is no longer
a distant worry; it is a daily struggle. Floods wash away homes, salinity destroys farmland, and
storms leave families starting from zero again and again. For girls and women, especially those
with disabilities, this crisis comes with an added layer of suffering that often goes unseen. Their
sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are pushed to the margins in conversations
that already exclude them.
Hidden but Real Sufferings
Take the case of Rina, a young woman with hearing impairment from Bhola. During floods, she
often cannot understand or respond to early warnings. When families crowd into shelters, she
faces harassment and has no privacy to manage her menstrual hygiene. For her, every disaster
brings a wave of fear, not only of the water but of exploitation.
Or consider Sathi, a woman with physical disability in Potuakhali. She struggles to reach health
centers for maternal care because floodwaters cut off transport routes. Even when she manages
to arrive, health workers are rarely trained to provide accessible SRHR services for women like
her.
These stories are not exceptions. They reflect patterns:
Lack of privacy in cyclone shelters or temporary housing.
Inaccessible health facilities for pregnant women or adolescent girls with disabilities.
Increased risk of gender-based violence in displacement settings.
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2. Stigma and neglect, families often ignore or silence the SRHR needs of girls with
intellectual disabilities.
In climate-impacted areas, these vulnerabilities deepen with every flood, drought, or storm.
What Can Be Done: Practical Actions
The solutions must come from the ground, involving the very communities who live through
these crises. Some doable steps include:
Community-Based Action: Local volunteers and women’s groups can form “Safe corner
initiatives” inside cyclone shelters to ensure privacy for girls and women, especially
those with disabilities.
Role of Local Women Leaders: Female community leaders can lead awareness sessions
on menstrual hygiene, safe pregnancy, and rights-based health services breaking stigma
in ways that outside professionals often cannot.
Local Government Support: Union Parishads can include disability-inclusive SRHR in
their disaster preparedness budgets such as allocating resources for accessible toilets,
ramps, and separate safe spaces in shelters. Chairman and member must allocate
budget for such awareness on disability and gender based SRHR issues.
Partnership with Health Workers: Training frontline health workers to communicate
with and serve women with different types of disabilities ensures that no one is turned
away in times of need. NGOs and DPOs must come forward.
Community Watch Groups: Joint groups of youth, women, and persons with disabilities
can help prevent harassment and violence during displacement.
Strengthening DPOs and Local Government
Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs) already exist in many parts of Bangladesh, but their
capacity is often underdeveloped. With training on climate adaptation, SRHR, and advocacy,
DPOs can:
Collect real data on the SRHR needs of girls and women with disabilities.
Engage with Union Parishads and Upazila administrations to influence local planning.
Provide peer counseling and referral support during emergencies.
Similarly, local government officials need orientation on disability rights and SRHR. When they
understand why inclusive services matter, they are better able to integrate these concerns into
local development plans.
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3. The Gradual Results We Can Expect
When communities, DPOs, and local governments begin working together, the results may not
be immediate, but they are transformative over time:
Short-term: Improved menstrual hygiene management in shelters, safer spaces for
women, more responsive health services.
Medium-term: Local budgets reflecting disability-inclusive SRHR priorities, trained
health workers across flood-prone and other disaster-prone areas, and reduced stigma.
Long-term: A culture of resilience where girls and women with disabilities no longer
have to fear being left behind in disasters where they can live with dignity, choice, and
health, even in the face of climate change.
Bangladesh’s climate story is incomplete without these voices. To ensure no woman or girl with
disability is silenced by disaster, we must weave disability-inclusive SRHR into every layer of
climate response and health-related actions from the community courtyard to the Union
Parishad office.
#CBR #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityRights #SRHR #Accessibility #GenderEquality
#WomenWithDisabilities #GirlsRights #Equity #ClimateAction #ClimateJustice #Resilience
#InclusiveDRR #LocalLeadership #DPOs #LeaveNoOneBehind #CommunityDrivenChange
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