How do conventional gender roles and responsibilities make women more susceptible to the impacts of extreme heat conditions? What measures would you suggest reducing these vulnerabilities?

Women are more susceptible to heat due to their roles, responsibilities and physiology. Extreme heat conditions represent the rise of average temperatures due to various factors like global warming, climate change etc.

Conventional gender roles and responsibilities make women more susceptible to extreme heat:

1. Mobility restrictions - as women are mostly restricted to homes without proper ventilation, and cramped spaces they suffer from extreme heat.

2. Gendered responsibility of fetching water from far away in extreme heat makes them susceptible.

3. Traditional norms and restrictions on clothing also plays a role.

4. lack of proper nutrition and diet - comprise of their health might lead to heat strokes and other conditions.

5. Physiology of women - storage of fat, menopause etc also makes them more susceptible to heat.

6. Working outside in fields, rooftops, during summer.

Example: Feminisation of agriculture

7. Using traditional cooking methods like tindong, sticks to cook rather than use of LPGs also make them more susceptible to heat and extreme conditions.

8. Household restrictions were women are confined to kitchen.

Measures to reduce vulnerability:

1. Designing spaces with proper ventilation and outlets for smoke and heat.

2. Proper diet and nutrition support.

Example: PM Grasib Kalyan Yojana, POSHAN Abhiyaan, Jawaai Suraksha Yojana

3. Transition to LPG.

Example: PM Ujjwala Yojana

4. Provision of adequate water facilities.

Example: Jal Jeevan Mission

Thus, vulnerability to heat causes women to suffer from fatigue, poor health and heat. It needs to be tackled with various support schemes, policies.