Stigma and Marginalisation Meet Disaster: Women’s Stories of Distress and Agency

This article captures the gendered experiences of disaster, with specific reference to the COVID-19 pandemic. It draws from a rapid assessment survey carried out by Prayas, a field action project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, working on the legal rights and rehabilitation of criminal justice affected populations. The survey was carried out in May 2020 through telephonic interviews with respondents who included released women prisoners, trafficked survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and women released from shelter homes. The article brings out the impact of the pandemic on their lives, resulting in loss of livelihoods, shelter, limited access to State and non-State support, fears relating to contracting the virus, and loneliness; further compromising their agency in family and community structures. As women negotiated with their social contexts to meet their survival needs, their experiences of the pandemic were intricately linked with earlier exclusionary societal processes on account of their social position and deviation from normative gender roles. The article also discusses how some women coped with the disaster by showing remarkable strength during the trying situation.