"What will we do with pads if we don't have underwear?" Yogita Tamang asked AFP regarding a lack of period supplies in Nepal's relief camps. The U.N. has warned that risks of gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, and unmet reproductive health care needs have risen following the Aug. 26 floods.
"Historically, females have been underrepresented in thermoregulation research," postdoctoral fellow Hannah Blount told CG. Her work to address knowledge gaps in teens' sweat patterns is set to prove even more critical as temperatures rise — and could help improve sports bras and other activewear.
CG spoke with self-described climate refugee Margaret Reynolds and coalition co-founder Leslie Wolf about the effort to save an L&D unit amid a rash of maternity care closures across Maine & the country — & amid intensifying weather that can snarl travel to health centers farther and farther away.
Are mothers' lives at risk due to smoke exposure? Are pregnancy outcomes? Should IVF be delayed? Is sperm affected? CG spoke with Amy Padula, a professor at UC San Francisco and the Acting Director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, about these and other potential impacts.
"Being a queer [or] trans activist and an environmental activist puts you in a greater sense of danger because both agendas are heavily under attack," Diego De Leon, Advocacy Chair at Out for Sustainability, told CG.
"While every family is different, mothers are disproportionately the default parent, meaning climate disruptions can add to the mental load, logistical challenges, and economic pressures many women already face," Laura Schifter, a Senior Fellow at the D.C.-based Aspen Institute, told CG.
"Incineration inevitably has an impact on the environment," Selma Benkhelifa of Progress Lawyers Network told CG about the U.S. government's previous plan to burn a cache of contraceptives instead of distributing them. "But the worst thing is depriving millions of women of access to contraception."
"This research project would not have happened had we not had buy-in and trust from the farmers we worked with," Emily Selland told CG about an effort in Senegal that showed integration of native fish into watery rice fields might curb schistosomiasis risks, which may be affected by climate shifts.
"Everywhere is blacked out," photographer Taiwo Aina-Adeokun told CG via Zoom about the smoky conditions she observed in kitchen settings — spaces to which her identity as a female photojournalist helped gain her access, she said. "At the fish smoking area, her eyes were always watery."
CG heard from 4 co-authors of a study that suggests abortion medications could one day meet the criteria for FDA approval as over-the-counter products. Emma Hernández of We Testify even shares a personal story showing how OTC pills could improve access to reproductive care and autonomy amid storms.
U.N. Women released a statement in late May underscoring concerns that the effects of this outbreak may be disproportionately felt by women, who are often overrepresented in administering care for sick family and community members, increasing risks of infection.
The drag performer and environmental activist, whose non-performance name is Wyn Wiley, created the drag persona back in 2018.
