Gender differences within hydrological risk perception: Floods and droughts in Italy and Sweden

Floods and droughts keep causing enormous damage worldwide. Thus, understanding how people perceive drought and flood risk, and how this may change over time, can help researchers, practitioners, and policymakers assist communities at risk. In particular, identifying potential gender differences in the perception of hydrological risk can support fair disaster risk reduction policies which take such differences into account. With the support of three rounds of national survey data on risk perception, knowledge, and preparedness in Italy and Sweden, this study shows that the perceptions of drought and flood risk are heavily intertwined. It also shows that changes in perception over time are different between women and men, with women showing a higher fluctuation over time compared to men, especially concerning floods. These results and their implications bring evidence in favour of integrating gender into hydrological risk management efforts and risk communication, as well as promoting policies that simultaneously address flood and drought risk.