Women Rising

In October 2022, heavy rain and storms led to a devastating flooding event in Victoria. High rivers, creeks, and sodden catchments had little capacity to absorb the rain, which resulted in wide-spread evacuations across northern Victorian communities along the Campaspe, Goulburn, and Murray Rivers.

Communities across Victoria lost homes, businesses, infrastructure, roads, and crops. The impacts of the floods were felt widely by the whole community, including stress, dislocation, financial insecurity, and disruptions to personal and family life.

WHLM recognise that natural disasters exacerbate existing gender inequalities and cause unequal health, social and economic outcomes that disproportionately affect women, including an increase in gendered violence. Considering the unique challenges that the 2022 Victorian floods in our region presented for women, WHLM responded with a multifaceted approach to support gender equality and women’s wellbeing approaches in emergency planning and management.