By Masaya Llavaneras Blanco
Photo by Miguel Medina, view of a shelter in Catia La Mar, July 6.
As one of almost 8 million diaspora Venezuelans, I was shocked about the news of the double earthquakes that hit the country on 24 June: both over magnitude 7 on the Richter scale, separated from each other by only 39 seconds.
Even though Venezuelans navigate from one shocking set of news to the next – including foreign interventions, mass protests and political violence, along with the severity of the precarious everyday life for the majority of the population – most would say that they did not expect earthquakes to be in the cards. There was no public warning or caution about the likelihood of a new one hitting the country anytime soon.
After spending the first few hours communicating with family and friends making sure everyone was safe, the feminist researcher and activist in me kicked in. I entered in conversation with other Venezuelan feminists on the ground, seeking ways to support their work while trying to understand the situation. How many people were affected? What were the systems in place to support those being rescued and those doing the rescuing? These questions were not in a vacuum: my research co-authored with Antulio Rosales explores the complex humanitarian emergency that has been unfolding in Venezuela for over a decade. State capacity is severely limited at the best of times, with the capital city having only 2 or 12 public ambulances available on any given day, depending on the source. What is clear is that diminishing state capacity has had an especially hard effect on women and girls, who traditionally pick up the pieces of failing systems of care. Add to this the impact of a sudden-onset disaster, like an earthquake, and you have a perfect storm of mounting, intersecting needs and gendered risks.
Eleven of the country’s 23 states experienced adverse effects from the quakes, but the most affected regions were La Guaira state and parts of the capital, Caracas, and Miranda state. As of 20 July, the number of deaths caused by the earthquakes is 5,398, and 16,740 injured, according to official sources. OCHA estimates that there are 23,820 people living in shelters and expects that 1.3 million people will need some form of support in the next six months.
There is no gender-disaggregated data available and limited-to-no data on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) needs or gender-based violence (GBV) in the context of this new humanitarian emergency.
A pre-existing humanitarian crisis with gendered implications
The pre-existing complex humanitarian crisis in place for over a decade is the result of the interaction of unsustainable government policies and the mismanagement of the oil industry, exacerbated by the imposition of sectoral sanctions by the United States (US) in 2019. The limited institutional capacities have been redirected to controlling the population and repressing dissent. State violence is manifest, for example in the seven-fold increase in deaths of civilians at the hands of police between 2010 and 2018, which occurred in tandem with the dramatic decline of public services and access to food. Approximately 7.9 million people left the country, most of which departed since 2018 and arrived in destination countries with varying degrees of need of international protection. On top of this, the US government carried out a military intervention in Venezuela last January 2026 and detained then president, Nicolás Maduro. The US government threw its support behind Maduro’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, establishing a new era of US tutelage over Venezuela.
The protracted humanitarian crisis that preceded the earthquakes has significant gendered implications. Alarmingly, Venezuela has the second highest maternal mortality rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 227 deaths per every 100,000 live births. Access to contraceptives is chronically limited due (among others reasons) to scarcity and lack of affordability. Abortion is criminalised in most cases, with one of the most restrictive legislations in the region. Similarly, the profound decline of public services increased the unpaid care workload of women and girls, especially those living in poverty. This translates into a steep decline of women’s labour participation, which reached 39% in 2025.
The need for a gendered lens for both rapid-onset and protracted crises
Historically, the gendered division of labour has placed Venezuelan women at the heart of community-based work. For decades, multiple Venezuelan governments relied on the unpaid labour of women at the grassroots level to reach communities and even to implement public policies. The deep decline in state capacity over the last decade exacerbated this overreliance on women and girls’ unpaid work. This mode of operation is also reproduced in the context of the humanitarian response to the protracted crisis. Already before the earthquakes, women have been bearing the brunt of distributing aid, facilitating access to communities, and addressing community needs.
After the earthquakes struck and within the first 72 hours of operation of the shelters set up for displaced people, local organisation Tinta Violeta identified 22 cases of sexual violence. This highlights the urgency of implementing conditions for increased safety and protection, especially for women, children and adolescents that are the most likely population groups to experience GBV. This includes, but is not limited to, access to running water and safe and private washrooms, sustained access to menstrual products, and the fostering of conditions of a safe and peaceful cohabitation.
Humanitarian responses should aim at preventing mortality, morbidity and disability in crisis-affected populations with SRHR in mind. UNFPA estimates that 36,700 pregnant women have been affected by the earthquakes, including approximately 4,000 who were expected to give birth in the month that followed. OCHA reports that 154 women in temporary shelters have received antenatal care, with no reference to any births one month after the earthquakes. There is a disconnect between the needs identified at the onset of the emergency and the antenatal care reported. In this context, and given Venezuela’s pre-existing high level of maternal mortality, there is an urgent need for sufficient, sustained and consensual access to contraceptive options; robust antenatal screening; and accessible, safe and clean birthing facilities with trained health personnel for people inside and outside temporary shelters.
A critical humanitarian crisis with significant governance challenges
The complexity of any large-scale humanitarian crisis is likely to add challenges to the functioning of any governance system, exposing the existing fragility of institutions. These challenges are exacerbated in authoritarian governments under the tutelage of foreign powers.
Multiple news reports refer to a delayed state response, late arrivals at critical sites, and severely limited state capacity. A month after the earthquakes, hundreds of families continue looking for their loved ones without information about whether they survived, or their whereabouts, while the public information system does not contain any updates since 2 July. There is no official data about missing individuals, but civil society initiative Desaparecidos Terremoto Venezuela estimates that there are over 29,000 people missing.
At the time of writing, there are 107 temporary shelters distributed in five states. The management of the shelters is assigned to different government ministries, regardless of their area of expertise. Civil society access to the shelters is limited and depends on the approval of the ministry in charge of each one. For example, UNFPA provided SRHR support to four shelters (of the 107 in place) during the first month that followed the earthquake, showing the limited reach of SRHR-specific approaches. Such a fragmented approach limits accountability and hinders the possibility of addressing urgent issues such as GBV and SRHR needs in all aspects of the humanitarian response.
Strengthening the response to GBV and SRHR needs
The fact that Venezuela is confronting a rapid-onset humanitarian emergency on top of a protracted crisis brings up specific challenges. The collaboration with already existing civil society organisations with critical expertise in GBV and SRHR is essential to the safety and survival of women and girls displaced by this crisis. At the same time, these organisations face structural challenges. First, they are under extreme demand, considering that they already were at the forefront of addressing the consequences of the pre-existing protracted humanitarian emergency. Second, like all non-governmental organisations, they operate in a context of constraint where freedom of association is at risk.
Statistically, Venezuela was already a dangerous place for women to give birth before the earthquakes. That fact alone should place SRHR needs at the forefront. A piecemeal approach of limited reach to shelters and sporadic interventions will not be sufficient to meet the substantial challenges ahead. Ultimately, SRHR should not be an add-on to the reconstruction efforts ahead, but a priority at their core.
Originally published by Humanitarian Policy Group. Can also be read in Spanish at Dawn Feminist.
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