Tab Article

Ratings: ★★★★☆ (4.2/5)
Genre: Women's Studies / Sociology / Disaster Research / Sri Lankan Non‑Fiction / Report

Book Review:
Gendering the Tsunami is a research report examining how the 2004 Asian tsunami affected women in Sri Lanka, focusing on the south coast (Hikkaduwa) and the eastern coast (Batticaloa). Written by Prof. Neloufer de Mel (University of Colombo, Yale) and Dr. Kanchana N. Ruwanpura (University of Southampton, Cambridge), the report presents women's experiences, challenges in regaining livelihoods, aid distribution, service delivery, relocation, and coping strategies. The authors emphasize that the tsunami's impact was neither neutral nor uniform, and that gender shaped vulnerability and recovery. A vital resource for policymakers, humanitarian workers, and scholars of gender, disaster studies, and post-tsunami reconstruction.