Women who survived the 2004 Asian tsunami face heightened risks of violence, impoverishment and lack of privacy at relief camps in several nations, a report released this month said. In many places, women were more vulnerable to abuse by men after the tsunami uprooted their traditional way of life, the report by 174 organisations, including ActionAid International, said.

“They would often beat their wives after getting drunk and would force them to have sex in the camps, sometimes in front of children,” said Sriyani Perera, ActionAid International’s women rights coordinator for Asia. The report covered five countries - Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand, India and Somalia - and more than 7,000 women were interviewed. In the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where more than 7,000 people died when the monstrous waves struck on December 26 over two years ago, some women who lost their houses or livelihood had to sell their kidneys to make ends meet. “We were shifted to a place where there was no work and no food to feed our children,” a woman from Tamil Nadu was quoted as saying in the report. Her name was not given.

“I sold my kidney and got a small amount. They did not give me the promised amount. Now I am suffering with heavy abdominal pain and I can’t work.”

The report said women were often not consulted in the distribution of relief - material or financial - and men often misused funds for drinking, leading to further abuse of women.

Single and older women as well as those with disabilities were particularly vulnerable in the post-tsunami rehabilitation period. On December 26, 2004, giant waves triggered by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded pulverised villages along Indian Ocean shores. Around 230,000 people were killed or went missing. Another 1.5 million were left homeless. South Asian nations were severely hit by the tsunami with tens of thousands killed across Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives. The report said sex tourism was on the rise in coastal areas of tsunami-affected regions in India.