What is vulnerability?

Vulnerability: refers to the inability to withstand the effects of a hostile environment. It is the quality or
state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or
emotionally. Vulnerable groups are people exposed to possibilities of attack, harms or mistreatment.
As a result, vulnerable persons/groups need special attention, protection and support.

Vulnerability = (Exposure) + (Resistance) + (Resilience)

With: Exposure: at risk property and population;

Resistance: Measures taken to prevent, avoid or reduce loss;
Resilience: Ability to recover prior state.
Types of vulnerability

1. Social vulnerability;
In its sense, social vulnerability is one dimension of vulnerability to multiple stressors
(agent responsible for stress) and shocks, including abuse, social exclusion and natural
hazards. Social vulnerability refers to the inability of people, organizations, and societies
to withstand adverse impacts from multiple stressors to which they are exposed. These
impacts are due in part to characteristics inherent in social interactions, institutions, and
systems of cultural values.
2. cognitive vulnerability:
Cognitive vulnerability, in cognitive psychology, is an erroneous belief, cognitive bias, or
pattern of thought that is believed to predispose the individual to psychological problems. It is
in place before the symptoms of psychological disorders start to appear, such as high
neuroticism, and after the individual encounters a stressful experience, the cognitive
vulnerability shapes a maladaptive response that may lead to a psychological disorder.
In psychopathology, cognitive vulnerability is constructed from schema models, hopelessness
models, and attachment theory.
3. Economic vulnerability:
Economic vulnerability refers to the financial means of individuals, towns, cities,
communities, or whole countries to protect themselves from the effects of
disasters. Within societies, there may be much economic delineation that further divides
groups into economically vulnerable subgroups.
4. Environmental vulnerability:
Environmental vulnerability is defined as a function of environmental exposure,
sensitivity and adaptive capacity, In addition to physical conditions and natural
disasters, non-physical aspects such as population also affect the existence of
environmental vulnerability.
 Who are vulnerable groups?
The term ‘vulnerable groups’ is often used interchangeably with the term ‘disadvantaged
groups’. Vulnerable groups are physically, mentally, or socially disadvantaged persons
who may be unable to meet their basic needs, also include the economically
disadvantaged, racial and ethnic minorities, the uninsured, low-income children, the elderly,
the homeless, those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and those with other chronic
health conditions, including severe mental illness and may therefore require specific assistance.
Persons exposed to and/or displaced by conflict or natural hazard may also be considered
vulnerable. Some of them are listed below:

 Women: particularly women in developing nations and those who are living in rural
Areas are vulnerable for many backward traditional practices. These women are
oppressed by the culture and do not get access to education and employment
 Children: Significant number of children are vulnerable and at risk for development.
Children are vulnerable for psychological and physical abuse This include illegally
working children, children who are pregnant or become mothers, children born out of
marriage, children from a single-parent, delinquent children, homeless children, HIV
infected children, uneducated children, institutionalized children, married children,
mentally ill children, migrant children, orphans, sexually exploited children, street
children, war-affected children…etc.
 Minorities: some people are vulnerable due to their minority background. Particularly,
ethnic (cultural and linguistic minority), religious minority. These people are political and
socially discriminated
 Poverty: People are vulnerable for many undesirable phenomena due to poverty. This
may be resulted in, poor households and large households, inequality, absences
of access to health services, important resources for life, lack of access to
education, information, financial and natural resources and lack of social networks
 Disabilities: People with disabilities very much vulnerable for many kind of risks.
This includes abuses, poverty, illiteracy, health problems, psychological and social
problems.
 Age: Old people can be targeted and/or neglected due to their physical and mental
deterioration and awareness, thus causing people to exploit them for money and other
things or very young children are vulnerable for all kinds’ evils
 Ethnic Group: An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a category of people who identify with
each other based on similarities such as common ancestry, language, history, society,
culture or nation. Ethnicity is usually an inherited status based on the society in which
one lives.
 Illiteracy and less education: People with high rates of illiteracy and lack quality
Educational opportunities are vulnerable for absence all kinds of developments
Age-based vulnerability: Age-based vulnerability is susceptibility of people,
especially children and older people, to different forms of attack, physical injuries and
emotional harms.

Children vulnerability: Children are among vulnerable groups exposed to harm because of
their age Child vulnerability is the outcome of the interaction of a range of individual and
environmental factors that compound dynamically over time. Types and degrees of child
vulnerability vary as these factors change and evolve. Age, for example, shapes children’s
needs while also exposing them to potential new risks. Infants, who are completely dependent
and require responsive and predictable caregiving, are particularly sensitive to parents’ health
and material deprivation. Young children under three years old are especially affected by family
stress and material deprivation because of the rapid pace of early brain development. Young
Both boys and girls are exposed to some harm and abuse in the hands of older people.
However, girls are exposed to double marginalization and discrimination because of the gender
are exposed to various kinds of harm before they reach at the age of maturity. Girls are
exposed for harms such as female genital cutting and also exposed to early marriage

Early marriage: is any marriage entered into before one reaches the legal age of 18, though
both boys and girls could marry early. It is a violation of the fundamental rights of the child the
followings are harmful consequences of early marriage:

 Termination of education – In almost every setting, better-educated women are more

likely to use contraception, bear fewer children, raise healthier children, and make better
decisions for themselves and their children and to make greater economic contributions
to the household.
 Exposure for many diseases : such as fistula
 Higher Risk of Miscarriages or Abortions.
 Retarded growth, emotional trauma, prolonged labor,
 Psychological illness and so on.

Older peoples vulnerability(>65)

Older people are consistently among the poorest in all societies, and material security is
therefore one of the greatest preoccupation of old age. Older people are facing various
problems as a result of modernization, globalization, and urbanization. Older people are
exposed to social exclusion because of their lower social and economic status. In most cases,
older people are excluded from social, cultural, political and economic interactions in their
communities. Older persons are marginalized because they are considered as social
burden rather than social assets. Communities do not provide older persons with
opportunities to contribute to their communities Many experience the same lack of physical
necessities, assets and income felt by other poor people, but without the resources that
younger, fitter, and more active adults can use to compensate. The prevalence of poverty
among older people is also linked to educational levels, including differing level of literacy.
Lack of material means is not the only problem of poverty. Another consequence is the inability
to participate effectively in economic, social and political life. Older people living in poverty find
themselves socially excluded and isolated from decision-making process. This affects not only
their income and wealth but also contributes to poor housing, ill health and personal insecurity.

How do we reduce vulnerability?

Since we cannot reduce the occurrence and severity of natural hazards, reducing vulnerability is
one of the main opportunities for reducing disaster risk. Vulnerability changes over time
because many of the processes that influence vulnerability are dynamic, including rapid
urbanization, environmental degradation, market conditions and demographic change. Many of
these factors are rooted in changing local conditions, but the picture is incomplete without
acknowledging the national and global socio-economic and political structures that constrain
local development opportunities. This means that a coherent fight against vulnerability needs to
take place at three scales: the local, national and international. See a related story: Retrofitting
unused spaces can help South African cities adapt to climate change.

Approaches to vulnerability reduction include:

 Implementing building codes

 Insurance and social protection (risk)
 Emphasizing economic diversity and resilient livelihoods
 Knowledge and awareness raising
 Preparedness measures

Summary:

Generally Vulnerability is the human dimension of disasters and is the result of the range of
economic, social, cultural, institutional, political and psychological factors that shape people’s
lives and the environment that they live in. vulnerable groups of people are people who are
excluded from main stream so by identifying their vulnerabilities and capacities, everyone
should identify strategies for immediate and longer-term risk reduction, as well as giving the
opportunities what they can do themselves to reduce risk and where they need additional
resources and external assistance.
Reference: anthropology module

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