The Tensions between Productive and Reproductive Roles in Professionals Involved in Disaster Risk Management: Analysis from a Gender Perspective

Disasters of natural origin are disruptive events that affect people's daily lives and lead to changes in their activities. This study is developed within the framework of the GENDER-IN project (Gender and disaster risk management: Comparative analysis and recommendations for intervention, PID2021-126195NB-I00). Previous research has shown that in emergency and post-disaster situations, women assume a greater overall workload (reproductive, productive and community) than in the pre-disaster context. However, few studies have addressed this issue in relation to professionals involved in disaster risk management (DRM). In this sense, this paper aims to analyse the experiences of the staff involved in the network of social care resources set up after the eruption of the Tajogaite volcano on the island of La Palma (Spain, 2021). To this end, an interpretative analysis was carried out of the testimonies collected in 23 interviews with three types of professionals involved in DRM: frontline workers, technical decision-makers and political decision-makers. The results reveal that gender intersects with professional position, both in the experience itself and in the effects it produces. Our findings show that the women interviewed, regardless of the professional group to which they belong, report the existence of tensions between the productive and reproductive spheres to a greater extent. Moreover, these tensions are exacerbated in the case of professionals who are also part of the affected population. As far as the men interviewed are concerned, family care does not occupy a central place in their discourse and the tensions between the productive and reproductive spheres are not clearly identified. From the results obtained, recommendations are derived that could facilitate more effective disaster management from a gender perspective, with a positive impact on the professionals involved, especially women.