What are the Social impacts of floods?
Floods can disrupt the social structure of families, leaving children with less social support. Floods are followed by a state of chaos, increasing the risk of child abuse and violence. Children are employed to earn for their families to make up for losses due to crop failure. Increasing migration from rural to urban areas has made children socially vulnerable due to their inability to adapt to the changing environment.
Children are often separated from their families, especially when floods cut off villages and areas and leave them alone. They, especially girl children, face many forms of abuse and exploitation. There is no social security even in temporary flood camps/shelters. Children are mentally affected in such situations and this sometimes causes lifelong disaster in their lives.
During the situations created for the family due to familial pressure, increased workload, financial stress and urgent need for food in the post-disaster period, children are pushed into unsafe environments where their basic right to a safe childhood vanishes. According to Census 2011, about 11 per cent of child labourers in india are from bihar alone.
The state is notoriously ranked second in terms of contribution to the child labour population in the country. Often children are trafficked from locally managed relief camps in case of accidental death of their parents. In some cases, women and girls are sexually exploited in relief camps. In case of disasters, children are often more vulnerable to adverse effects of danger than adults and the elderly due to lack of knowledge of what to do and what not to do.
click and follow Indiaherald WhatsApp channel