Mapping Women’s Vulnerability to Forest and Land Fires in Indonesia, 2017–2024

• In Event: Environmental Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 8: Inequality, Gender, and Intersectionality

Abstract

This study advances understanding of gendered disaster risk by providing a provincial-level assessment of how forest and land fires (FLF) affected women across Indonesia. Women may be up to fourteen times more vulnerable to disasters than men because socioeconomic and political inequalities shape their exposure, limit their resources, and constrain their decision-making power. During fire seasons, women face disproportionate physical, psychological, and livelihood impacts. Their dual responsibilities as caregivers and income earners remain insufficiently addressed in current fire management and disaster policies. This study mapped women’s vulnerability to FLF across Indonesian provinces from 2017 to 2024. It constructed a composite index to measure exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. This research also employed linear regression to examine whether burned area predicts vulnerability. Results showed that the burned area alone did not determine how severely women are affected. Instead, vulnerability arose from the interaction between fire exposure, socioeconomic disadvantage, and limited institutional support. Two national patterns emerged. Provinces in Kalimantan and Sumatra showed high exposure and elevated vulnerability due to frequent and intense fires. Provinces in Eastern Indonesia, including Papua and Maluku, displayed high sensitivity driven by poverty, low education levels, and restricted access to basic services despite lower exposure. These findings demonstrated that women’s vulnerability was structurally produced rather than hazard-driven. They underscored the need for gender-responsive fire management strategies that strengthen adaptive capacity and address the social conditions that shape unequal disaster outcomes.

Authors

• Alvinda Putri Ruriana

• Bambang Trihadmojo, Northwestern University