As an active fault, Indonesia’s natural geographical landscape can be categorized as a disaster-prone area. Natural disasters are inevitable and usually a result of either tectonic shift (tectonic earthquakes, volcanic eruption), or climate change (storm, typhoon, draught); both may lead to serious damage in humans’ lives. Common natural disasters in Indonesia, such as flood, landslide, draught, and (water, air, land) pollutions, are typically initiated by human behaviors in mismanaging natural resources. Indonesia is where the world’s active faults meet, making the tectonic plate shift constantly occur, resulting in earthquakes and tsunami (Tuswadi & Takehero Hayashi, 2014). As a country with the most active volcanoes in the world, the threats of volcanic eruption are facing the country from Sumatera, Java, Nusa Tenggara, to Celebes (Sulawesi).
Indonesia is the area where the active tectonic plates of the world meet and cause a shift resulting in earthquakes, tsunami, and active volcanic activities. The condition is made worse by the careless treatment of the people and their unawareness of the importance of environmental support system, thus leading to natural disasters such as flood, landslide, draught, and pollution in the water, air, and land. There are a series of natural disasters waiting to occur and affect the lives of the Indonesian people. The threat of natural disasters in Indonesia occurs due to the meeting of the earth’s active fault in addition to human’s destructive behavior to the environment. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) focuses on long-term risk reduction by addressing the causal factors of risk in terms of the occurrence of natural hazards, the exposure to natural hazards and the vulnerability of communities (UNDP, 2007).
Mount Merapi (elevation: 2,968 m per 2006) is an active volcano in central Java Island and one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. The mountain is dangerous due to its regular eruption (active peak) every two to five years, while the volcano is surrounded by populous housing complex to the 1700 m height and 4 km away from the summit. Since 1548, the mountain has erupted 68 times (Sea Eun Cho, Sehyung Won, & Saehoon Kim, 2016). This periodical threat demands the awareness of the community, particularly those residing in the Merapi Slope.
In the events of the frequent natural disaster, women are marginalized as the disaster management are more male-oriented. Natural disasters cause both material damage and loss of lives, and do not see gender difference. Nevertheless, women are the group of people that are less cared for in the event of natural disasters such as flood, draught, volcanic eruption, earthquake, tsunami, landslide, or endemic disease, and which make them incredibly vulnerable.
The low quality of life due to poverty has caused the poor, especially women, to be more vulnerable to diseases during the event of disasters. Women and children are the most vulnerable when a disaster strike, and even more afterward. Women also have worse experiences due to the inequality and unjust treatments in the post-disaster management. Structurally, disasters make women more prone to poverty and marginalization in the disaster management, particularly when the area affected by the disaster is a poor area. The social construction of women in the society is to be the subordinated group in comparison to men; as a result, they have lack of access to information, including when a disaster occurs to the mitigation stage of the disaster.
Women’s limitation to access affects the mitigation and recovery process due to disaster, making them suffer more when disasters strike. During the occurrence of a disaster, women still have to do their domestic duties, such as caring for the children, the elderly, and other family members with physical disabilities. Unlike their male counterparts who are free of domestic duties, women do not have the freedom of mobility both to look for a place to live or to find a job.
Natural disasters should be taken as an opportunity for women to change their gender status in the society. Their very presence during the disaster is highly crucial as they are more flexible in moving the masses during emergency. They are able to form groups and social networks by working together when there is a demand and disaster mitigation. In the event of disaster, women can manage the available resources by creating productive activities to meet their daily needs. However, exactly when disaster occurs, they are the ones that must bear the higher domestic burden to take care of family members with physical limitation due to the disaster. They will be continually marginalized unless they seek recognition of their actions and existence as the essential figures during the occurrence of a disaster.
Women need to be aware that they should be in a constant effort to reduce the negative impacts of a disaster. The efforts include preparing for disaster as women understand more about the threats of disaster in relation to their own lives. According to the 2014 and 2015 National Census, National Statistics released the number of Indonesian populations as many as 254.9 million people. The data show that the male population is 128.1 million, and that the female population is 126.8 million people (BPS,2015). Women are the members of society that is most vulnerable when disaster occurs. It needs to be taken into account that the population of women is almost half of the total Indonesian population and therefore, they deserve proper attention and care. Women are relatively vulnerable in the occurrence of disaster; for this reason, it is important that women play a more significant role in dealing with disaster as it is one of the most important factors in reducing loss resulted from the disaster.
A thorough understanding of disaster risks and safety is the top priority in anticipating a disaster. The integration of necessary information regarding disaster risk in the daily lives is a strategic step in reducing unwanted disaster risk. Women need to be familiar with their surrounding in order to understand natural changes. An understanding of the natural changes is an important prerequisite in disaster risk rescue. In order to attain this objective, it is expected that women are to be more involved and given a bigger role in disaster management, so that they are able to defend themselves and their families from disaster risk.
Some of the areas in Indonesia are faced with problems that can trigger sudden poverty, i.e., the occurrence of natural disasters and threats such as draught, flood, volcanic eruption, earthquake, landslide, and forest fire. It is indeed ironic that women must suffer more in the occurrence of disaster and disaster management due to the difference in gender status which causes them to have lower bargaining power. Disasters make women more prone to poverty, as they often lose the breadwinner of the family.
The periodical Merapi eruption often results in material loss, and even take lives, particularly in the slope and river basin area with a direct path to Merapi. There needs to be increased serious awareness of the threat of the periodical Merapi eruption disaster to reduce the loss of lives.
The women living in the Merapi Slope are those who are most vulnerable to the impacts of eruption. Such condition demands them to constantly prepare themselves for the event of disasters in order to be able to save themselves and their families. Those living in the disaster-prone area of the Merapi eruption are highly vulnerable, especially as the eruption occurs regularly and they have to care for themselves, the children, and the elderly in the family. In order to reduce the vulnerability and disaster risk for those living in the Merapi Slope, there needs to be a significant effort so that they are able to face the risk and impacts of the disaster. In relation to that, this research intends to study the problems of the women living in the Merapi Slope, particularly in their vulnerabilities and disaster risk. Based on the background of the problem, the characteristics of women’s vulnerabilities and their efforts in reducing the disaster risk of Merapi eruption in the South Merapi Slope can be identified.
Women have a strategic role in dealing with disaster and minimizing its risk, particularly through their improved role in mitigation. In order to improve their role in minimizing disaster risk, there needs to be improvement in the following aspects: awareness of the environment and natural threats; understanding of the vulnerability and ability to consider their own capacities; the ability to measure the risk of being a woman as an individual, a family member, and a community member; the ability to plan and act in order to reduce risks through capacity building and reducing vulnerability; and the ability to monitor, evaluate, and ensure the sustainability of risk reducing efforts to limit or prevent the post-disaster effects
Social vulnerability in Indonesia is relatively high and can be found mostly in women living in disaster-prone areas. It is imperative that the vulnerability and risks of these women in relation to the disaster be identified in order to protect and empower women from the impacts of the disaster. Women are one of the most marginalized groups in the society during the occurrence of disaster (Siagian, Ritonga, & Purhadi, 2013):
write that three main driving factors affecting social vulnerability in Indonesia are found: ‘socioeconomic status and infrastructure,’ ‘gender, age and population growth’ and ‘family structure.’. The results have shown that social vulnerability is varied significantly among districts in Indonesia. Three driving factors affecting social vulnerability have been identified, i.e., ‘socioeconomic status and infrastructure’, ‘gender, age and population growth’ and ‘family structure.
The impacts of disaster in one area are different from those in another depending on the level of preparedness, endurance and capacity for recovery. When there is no proper disaster management, it is possible that vulnerability occurs longer after a disaster strike.
Disaster destroys the hopes and future of many as it often results in the loss of lives, material loss and damage, the loss of source of income and the ruin of social system. In the event of natural disaster, the following impacts can be varied, e.g. social vulnerability, decreased prosperity, threat to main occupation and food security, lack of self and social protection and security, declining health, material loss, as well as distortion on social structure and organizational network (Cardona, 2011).
The planning and implementation of a policy should not only address short-term problems. Early studies on disaster and its impacts, evacuation stage, and sustainable recovery are as crucial as the community’s readiness in dealing with disaster. Policy planning on disaster requires a solid integration among various contributing factors, including natural, environmental, infrastructural, social, political, cultural, and economic aspects. Community empowerment is highly imperative in dealing with disaster, including in social, economic, cultural empowerment, as well as the assurance of health, and the availability of food, clothes, and shelter. It is also important to take into account the explicit disaster mitigation management in order to protect the community and life assets as the foundation to continue life after the disaster strike.
An analytical framework was developed to evaluate the various dimensions of decentralized disaster risk reduction, which necessitated the use of a desk study, semi-structured interviews and a gap analysis. Key barriers to implementation in Indonesia included: capacity gaps at lower institutional levels, low compliance with legislation, disconnected policies, issues in communication and coordination and inadequate resourcing. However, any of these barriers are not unique to disaster risk reduction, and similar barriers have been observed for decentralization in other developing countries in other public sectors (Grady, Anthony, Gersonius, & Berry, 2016):
When a disaster strikes, the top priority is to save lives. The protection of security, health, facilities, and infrastructure to sustain life, such as clean water and food security, should be the first priority after rescue. Women are the most vulnerable members of the society when a disaster strike. Women’s vulnerability should be taken into account and given proper attention as they are the true backbone of the community in preventing the negative impacts of disaster risk.
The efforts to manage disasters are constantly studied both through scientific research and official regulation in order to minimize their impacts. It is increasingly realized that the role of women has become incredibly important in reducing disaster risks and at the same time strengthen their endurance when disaster strikes. The planning and implementation of a policy should not only address short-term problems. Policy planning on disaster requires a solid integration of various contributing factors, including natural, environmental, infrastructural, social, political, cultural, and economic aspects. In dealing with disaster, women empowerment is highly essential, particularly in the social, economic, and cultural empowerment. The role of women in mitigation should be bigger as they are able to reduce vulnerabilities caused by disasters such as famine, limitation of access, loss of home, and declining health which can result in further conflict in the future.
Study Area
The research area in South Merapi slope area, Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.