A sociological study on the disaster experiences of women and men in the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes (the case of Malatya)

Earthquakes are not merely the result of movements within the Earth's crust; they are also multidimensional social phenomena that test the resilience of societal structures and can deepen existing vulnerabilities, and expose underlying social inequalities. The primary motivation for this study is the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, a recent event that has not yet been extensively examined in the academic literature and whose research findings have only recently begun to emerge. Within this framework, the study adopts a gender perspective to explore the social impacts of the earthquakes, aiming to reveal, through the subjective accounts of survivors, the gendered differences and similarities in their life experiences throughout the disaster processes. The research was conducted in Malatya, one of the provinces most severely affected by the earthquakes both physically and socially. Interviewing both male and female survivors was deemed crucial for uncovering differences in socially constructed gender roles and the inequalities embedded within these dynamics. As a pervasive social construct shaping all spheres of life, gender provides an essential analytical lens through which to understand the differentiated impacts of disasters. Accordingly, examining the earthquake experience through a gendered lens underscores the sociological significance of this study. Methodologically, the study is grounded in qualitative research and guided by a phenomenological approach, aiming to capture the essence of individual experiences. The research population consists of earthquake survivors residing in Malatya one of the eleven provinces affected by the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes. The purposive sample included twenty voluntary participants (12 women and 8 men). Findings reveals that earthquakes, as a form of disaster, can render gender-based inequalities more visible and, in many cases, exacerbate them. The analysis revealed that women were often positioned in more vulnerable and multiple roles, while men carried distinct burdens arising from societal expectations of strength and protection. Despite partial transformations in these roles, such shifts largely remain unrecognized or invisible within the broader social context. Keywords: Disaster, Earthquake, Gender, Social Inequality, Malatya.