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How Cold Weather Exposes Gaps in Women’s Safety and Justice


As winter takes hold in Kitchener-Waterloo and across Canada, many of us settle

into slower days, snow-covered streets, and the familiar struggle to stay warm. But beneath

its surface, winter reveals deep inequalities in safety, justice, and access to essential

services that affect women, gender-diverse people, and other marginalized groups.

At first glance, winter may seem benign when compared to floods, hurricanes, or

droughts, yet it is part of a wider climate system that affects women differently. According

to UN Women (2022), the climate crisis as a whole “is not gender neutral,” intensifying

existing inequalities that shape women’s vulnerability to environmental stressors and

extreme weather conditions. Winter conditions may not be caused solely by climate

change, but the frequency and severity of weather extremes – including unpredictable

winter storms – are tired to human driven climate disruption, which interacts with social

systems of inequality. What’s clear from global evidence is that gender and climate

connect to amplify disadvantage rather than create it from scratch.

As temperatures plummet, access to safe shelter becomes a matter of survival. For

women escaping gender-based violence, winter presents certain barriers. Public transit

disruptions, icy roads, and the higher cost of transportation can make it harder to reach

shelters, court appointments, or legal aid. Housing insecurity, which is already

disproportionately experienced by women, especially single mothers and gender-diverse

individuals, is exacerbated in winter months when warming centers and affordable housing

are in high demand. This inequality stems from deeper structural problems. Women are

more likely than men to live in poverty and precarious housing, making winter’s demand

more burdensome. In Canada, gender-based analysis in emergency planning has

historically been limited, meaning policies often overlook the needs of women during

seasonal and climate emergencies (Canadian Women’s Foundation, 2024).

In many regions around the world, women are responsible for securing food, water,

and fuel for their families – work that becomes harder when winter limits mobility and

access to resources. As UN Women (2025) explains, “women depend more on, yet have

less access to, natural resources,” and when these become harder to obtain due to

environmental changes, women’s unpaid care and domestic work increases. Here in

Canada, winter strengthens this invisible labour. Tasks like shoveling snow, grocery

shopping in harsh conditions, caring for sick children during flu season, and managing

households with higher utility costs fall disproportionately on women.


It's easy to think of winter as a static, annual cycle, but climate change is already re-

shaping what winter looks like, from heavier snowfalls to sudden ice storms and unpredictable freezes. These shifts create new public safety challenges and deepen inequalities. Global reports show that climate change may push millions of women into poverty by 2050 and worsen food insecurity for women and girls more than for men (UN Women, 2025). Current policy structures rarely account for seasonal inequities. As explained by Canadian Women’s Foundation (2024), emergency preparedness plans often lack gender- based analysis, failing to consider how winter closures of services impact women who rely on those services for safety, healthcare, or legal support. A feminist approach to climate and weather planning requires policymakers to ask:

  • Who has access to safe, warm housing during extreme cold?

  • How do transit and mobility challenges aAect access to legal and social services?

  • What investments are needed in community infrastructure to support vulnerable populations?


As explained by Ontario Council for International Cooperation (2019), reports on

climate justice emphasize that women are disproportionately aCected by and least

responsible for the drivers of climate change, yet they remain underrepresented in

decision-making spaces that shape climate and emergency policies.

Winter does not occur in a vacuum. It interacts with poverty, housing insecurity,

gender, race, and disability. Recognising that “winter is not gender neutral” is the first step

in addressing how climate, weather, and seasonal policy decisions impact women and

gender-diverse people differently.


Advocacy must push for:

  • Gender-responsive emergency and climate planning

  • Expanded safe shelter and transit access during extreme weather

  • Affordable housing that withstands seasonal and climate-related stressors

  • Legal services that remain accessible year-round

Climate justice is gender justice. Understanding how winter both reveals and deepens

existing inequities helps us move toward a more just and resilient society for all women and

gender-diverse people.


Resources


Canadian Women’s Foundation. (2024). The facts about gender and climate change.


change


Ontario Council for International Cooperation. (2019). A feminist approach to climate

UN Women. (2022). How gender inequality and climate change are interconnected.


change-are-interconnected

 
 
 

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