Search

This study sought to learn how women participated in the recovery process after the Kashmir earthquake of October 2005 in Union Council Langarpura, Azad Kashmir state of Pakistan. Focus‐group discussions, semi‐structured interviews, and participant observations were conducted with a total of 48 participants. The results revealed that women played various important roles in the reproductive, productive, and community spheres, encompassing, inter alia, normal household responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, and caring for cattle, and non‐traditional tasks such as rebuilding the home. In addition, they participated in income‐generating activities such as carrying construction materials and water for daily wages, dairy farming, and working in fields and in the education and health sectors. Community endeavours, meanwhile, consisted of search and rescue, caring for the injured, collective cooking and food sharing, and supervising the reconstruction of public structures, including schools, roads, and water supply facilities, and establishing a sewing centre to provide vocational training to local women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]