Gendered Heat Stress: Assessing the Hidden Toll of Heatwaves among Lower Middle Class and Middle Class Women’s Care-giving Responsibilities

Globally heatwave has become an alarming climate change phenomenon, with multidimensional impacts affecting populations worldwide. As climate change amplifies extreme weather events on a global scale, it has created severe consequences for the marginalized communities, particularly women due to biological and socio-cultural factors. On the scale of affecting women by heatwave, apart from global and South-Asian context, socio-cultural aspects in Bangladesh have accelerated the inequitable consequence of extreme heatwaves on Bangladeshi women in particular. Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh is more susceptible to heatwaves due to rapid urban development and dense population. The gendered division of labor, twining with women's primary caregiving responsibilities and religious and cultural norms of maintaining modest cloths, financial background and lack of access to various resources, exacerbates their vulnerabilities during periods of heat stress. Given the escalating frequency and intensity of heatwaves due to climate change, there is an urgent need for comprehensive research on the implicit expenses of heatwaves on women’s care-giving responsibilities, particularly in urban centers like Dhaka within the broader framework of global climate change debate. Employing the theoretical framework of Feminist Political Ecology, this study explores the intersection of gender, environment and socio-economic-factors. This framework will help to highlight how women’s care giving roles are specifically affected by heatwaves and how their financial background, socio-cultural norms (maintain household works, taking care of family members, preparing food, managing children’s education, wearing modest cloths in household), access to resources etc. made their experiences heterogenous. Through qualitative methodology involving unstructured interviews with 40 lower middle class and middle class respondents, the study will not only contribute to academic discourse on climate change and gender but also inform policymakers in developing sustainable interventions that will address the specific needs of women during heatwaves and adaptive strategies.