April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and April 22nd is Earth Day. So, this month, we’re looking at the intersection of sexual assault and environmental justice. When we view these issues with an intersectional feminist lens, we understand sexual and gender-based violence as deeply interconnected to our society’s relationship with the earth, environment, and climate.
For example, research has shown time and again a direct correlation between the presence of extractive industries and increased rates of sexual and gender based violence. When fossil fuel companies are located in proximity to Indigenous communities we see a "sexual violence pipeline onto Native land” largely due to the lack of accountability for perpetrators. As Indigenous women bear the brunt of continued violence related to theses extractive industries, the earth bears the larger impact of catastrophic environmental and climate changes.
April also marks the year anniversary of the two largest fires in our state's history. There is a clear link between climate catastrophe and gender-based violence, with overwhelming evidence that extreme weather and climate events lead to increased rates of sexual assault. In some regions domestic violence has been shown to rise by 60 percent after extreme weather events. Further, poor maternal health outcomes (maternal morbidity, infant mortality, and pre-term labor) are all correlated with extreme heat which is worsening with climate catastrophe.
