Climate Crisis and Gender-Based Violence: Ecofeminist Perspectives on Power and Politics in the Global South

Climate change has a disproportionate impact on women and marginalized communities, exacerbating existing structural inequalities and contributing to increased gender-based violence (GBV) in both migratory scenarios and climate-based environments. This chapter analyzes the association between ecofeminism and GBV, highlighting the shared causes of environmental damage and patriarchal oppression. Ecofeminism is theoretical and activist framework that emphasizes the linked exploitation of nature and women by gender hierarchy, capitalist and colonial regimes. This write up explores important concepts of ecological feminism philosophy, emphasizing on how the oppression of women and the exploitation of nature have ideological footings. It looks on how environmental crises including climate change, droughts, floods, water scarcity, and extractive industries exacerbate hazards for women, especially in marginalized and climate vulnerable communities. This chapter delves into the deeper political economics of gender in the global south, underlining how intersectional power structures heighten climate related vulnerabilities. It addresses how economic extraction, gender subordination, and imperial legacies contribute to GBV as both an indication and a structural control mechanism. Drawing on verified case studies from the global south, It shows how climate-induced stressors cause relocation, trafficking, sexual assault and domestic abuse making GBV a symptom and a tool for environmental and social control. It addresses the power of community-led resistance, which is founded on Indigenous knowledge, grassroots organizing and feminist care ethics. Finally, this chapter seeks to connect ecofeminism with climate-related GBV to expose their roots. It’s outcome is a call for gender-sensitive climate justice and sustainable futures.