Women's Environmental Justice Movements: Inequalities and Rights

The main goal of women's environmental justice movements is to address environmental inequalities, but at the same time promote social justice. These movements are aware that environmental issues, such as climate change, pollution and the management of natural resources, have a disproportionate impact on some communities, especially marginalized ones, and that women, especially in developing countries, are often among the most affected. An approach that recognizes this interconnectedness considers it essential to integrate women's rights into solutions for environmental change. Women around the world are often at the forefront of environmental justice movements and it is these movements that combine the fight for women's rights with environmental protection, when they call for a more inclusive and just approach to natural resource management and climate policies. Environmental changes can amplify existing inequalities, for example in the health sector, nevertheless women, due to their socioeconomic position, face specific environmental risks, such as increased water scarcity, loss of arable land and natural disasters ¹. However, women have developed forms of resilience through community and solidarity practices and are involved in informal networks of support and cooperation that help them face environmental challenges.

The paper presents a survey of the major women's movements for environmental justice in the world and in Italy, this survey aims to identify common elements, in order to understand which dynamics are activated in the forms of environmental change where women are protagonists and which social dynamics this commitment affects.

1-Truda G., (2023), “Combattre les inégalités de genre dans la gestion de l’eau: protection des droits etautonomisation des femmes”, (Eds) Woloszyn, P., Girardot, J. J, Truda, G. Water [Wars and Peace] Socio-ecology of water, Sharing Economy and Territorial Intelligence, Gutenberg Edizioni, Vol. 14.