Women This Week: UN Projects Climate Crisis will Increase Intimate Partner Violence Rates

Women and Girls Disproportionately at Risk 

A new study on the impact of climate change projects that the number of people experiencing domestic violence in sub-Saharan Africa will triple due to global warming and increased temperatures. The report—compiled by the UN Populations Fund (UNFPA), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, and the University of Vienna—found that extreme temperatures leading to failed agriculture, water scarcity, and housing insecurity can increase rates of intimate partner violence. The study authors analyzed demographic and health surveys and found that nearly 100 million additional people—from 48 million in 2015 to 140 million in 2060—will experience domestic violence in sub-Saharan Africa if the worst-case scenario occurs and temperatures rise by more than four degrees Celsius by the end of the century. “Extreme heat threatens the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable women and girls all across Africa,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem. “Heat stress can put the health of pregnant women and their babies at risk, increasing the chance of preterm birth and stillbirth,” she added. 

First Aboriginal Woman Becomes Leader of Major Political Party in Australia  

Selena Uibo, a former health minister and attorney-general, has become the first Indigenous woman to lead one of Australia’s major political parties. Uibo was unanimously voted in to replace the outgoing leader of the Territory Labor Party, which suffered a major defeat in elections last month. Uibo was first elected to Parliament in 2016 before rising to the cabinet in 2018, where she has championed a range of issues. “You know, being the first is an honour and a privilege, and it’s quite exciting, not without being naive to the huge challenge that is ahead,” she commented. Additionally, the Māori of New Zealand have named a new monarch, Nga Wai Hono i te Po, following the death of her father. She is the second woman to assume the role of Queen and will represent the Māori tribes at a time when Indigenous rights are backsliding in the country. “She has an expertise in her Māori language, in Māori customs – she’s a model of her father’s words: Māori, be Māori,” said Tom Roa, professor at the University of Waikato and a leader of Waikato Ngāti Maniapoto iwi.  

Report Finds More Women Seeking Tubal Sterilization Since Dobbs Decision 

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed an increase in tubal sterilization following the overturn of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court in 2022. Tubal sterilization is a permanent form of contraception in which the fallopian tubes are tied or removed to prevent future pregnancy. The study analyzed the insurance claims of 4.8 million women between the ages of eighteen and forty-nine from January 2021 to December 2022. The report found that sterilizations rose 39 percent in states that banned abortion and increased in smaller margins in states that protected or limited abortion. “To me, it suggests that people are experiencing fear and anxiety around the ruling, either for their ability to get an abortion or even to access contraception in the future,” said Jacqueline Ellison, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh.