Nepal Earthquake in 2015 and Women with Particular Reference to the Intersectionality of Gender, Caste, and Class

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the earthquake experiences of 10 women from Dalit villages in Sindhupalchok District, which suffered severe damage from the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, from an intersectional perspective of gender, caste, and class. In the absence of husbands due to their international labor migration, Dalit women were exposed to multiple socio-economic, health and hygiene vulnerabilities due to the intersectionality of caste, class, and gender factors. This study shows that the husband’s continued labor migration without returning home can be understood as a survival strategy and the only hope for the poor Dalit households to receive material support for recovery from earthquake damage.