Analysis of Victoria Gender and Disaster Taskforce: A Retrospective Analysis

The article examines the report by Victoria Gender and Disaster Taskforce. The
taskforce prepared the report over a period of three years. The goal of the report was to
provide leadership and strategic direction to the state of Victoria with regard to the issue of
reducing compounding effects of gender on the impact of disasters (Parkinson et al., 2018).
Thus, the report sought to bring the issue of gender to disaster policies ad practices with the
goal of helping both men and women receive the help that they need before and after
disasters so that they maintain their well-being and health.
Premises of the Article

The article has three premises. First, that emergency services organizations are male-
dominated. This premise is supported by evidence of gender representation in various
emergency services organizations in the state. For instance, 90% of paid Metropolitan Fire
Brigade staff are male as are 71% of paid County Fire Authority (Parkinson et al., 2018).
This lack of diversity in emergency services departments is a clear pointer to gender
discrimination in these departments.
The article’s second premise is that this lack of gender balance in emergency services
organizations has significant negative effects. For instance, low representation of women in
emergency services has resulted in masculinity culture being ingrained in emergency services
departments. Aspects of this culture include detachment from others, emphasis of physical
action, intense competition, and considering seeking of help for mental health problems as a
show of weakness. This masculinity culture has led to the men causing harm to themselves
(as when they refuse to seek help for depression post-emergencies) and to others through
various forms of violence such as domestic violence (Parkinson et al., 2018). It is hoped that
an increase in the number of women in emergency services organizations may lead to a

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weakening of this masculinity culture and, therefore, improve the wellbeing and health of
personnel serving in emergency services departments.
The third premise of the article is that emergency services organizations can address
the issue of gender imbalance through deliberate efforts aimed at creating an environment
that will make women comfortable to work in the organizations. The efforts should also
include representation of women in the higher echelons of emergency services organizations
so that women get to have more role models to look up to in their careers (Parkinson et al.,
2018). Having women contribute at all levels of emergency services organizations will
significantly improve gender balance in the organizations.

Issues of Diversity, Equality, and Equity Covered in the Article
The main issue of diversity, equality, and equity that is revealed in the article is
gender discrimination in employment. It seems that provision of emergency services is
considered as a job for men. That explains why despite women comprising around half of the
state’s population, they are grossly underrepresented in the various levels of the emergency
services organizations in the state. At some levels, their representation is less than 10%. This
gross gender disparity in the workforce of these organizations has created a masculinity
culture that is harmful to both men who work in these organizations and to their loved ones.

Analysis of the Premises of the Article

I completely agree with the premises of the article. It is a fact that some professions
have long been considered as male professions. Emergency services is one of these
professions. Unfortunately, apart from perpetuating gender discrimination by creating
barriers for women’s entry into these professions, the dominance of one gender of these
professions has made them less effective in the discharge of their duties. To reduce gender
imbalance in such critical public agencies, it is not only important to institute affirmative

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action to address underrepresentation of women but also to create a workplace culture that
women will find attractive.

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References

Parkinson, D., Duncan, A., Davie, S., Archer, F., Sutherland, A., O’Malley, S., & Gough, M.
(2018). Victoria’s gender and disaster taskforce: A retrospective analysis. Australian
Journal of Emergency Management, The, 33(3), 50.