A/HRC/41/26 their lands and territories, and about the nutritional and medicinal value of plants. 47 Rapid climate change-induced changes to ecosystems and their biodiversity can affect traditional knowledge and its application, negatively impacting on women’s livelihoods and the cultural practices, health, prosperity and resilience of their communities.48 G. Human mobility 23. Although many women may migrate into situations of greater empowerment or assume leadership roles in the response to climate change, human mobility poses unique risks to women. Women on the move are more likely to suffer from sexual and genderbased violence. 49 Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons displaced by climate change may also face elevated risks of violent abuse in the context of human mobility. 50 Furthermore, the economic impacts of climate change can contribute to increased human trafficking and child, early and forced marriages, both of which often involve migration.51 24. Both the sudden-onset and slow-onset adverse effects of climate change can drive human mobility and affect the habitability of homes, lands and territories. 52 When climate change affects communities, gender influences who moves (and who stays), how decisions are made, an individual’s circumstances in transit, and the outcomes of movement. 53 Movement can influence gender dynamics by entrenching traditional gender roles and existing inequalities, or by challenging and changing them. 54 For example, male outmigration, driven, at least in part, by climate change, can lead to increased roles and decision-making power for women in agriculture. However, if the income generated by agriculture lags behind the income generated in other sectors, women’s growing role in the agricultural sector could exacerbate gender inequality. 55 H. Women environmental human rights defenders 25. The adverse effects of climate change intensify threats to land, water, species and livelihoods, affecting women who live in and rely upon ecosystems for their subsistence as well as that of their families and communities. Women defending these ecosystems often pay a high price. In common with all human rights defenders, women face risks, including assassination, criminalization, intimidation and assault. However, they also face the added threat of gender-specific violence, including sexual violence, which can have additional adverse social consequences such as stigmatization and discrimination. Efforts by States to mitigate or adapt to the impacts of climate change, if not properly carried out, can exacerbate the situation – threatening women’s rights not only to development, food, water, land and culture but also to freedoms of expression, assembly, association and political participation. 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 8 See www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/tk/en/documents/pdf/grand_council_of_the_crees_annex _comments_on_observer_participation.pdf and www.cbd.int/gender/doc/fs_uicn_biodiversity.pdf. FAO, “Women – users, preservers and managers of agrobiodiversity” (1999), available at http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=2BB791DFD15ED4EF10EAE1AC83D930 E3?doi=10.1.1.395.2601&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Gender and Climate Change: A Closer Look at Existing Evidence. The New Humanitarian, “Lost in the chaos – LGBTI people in emergencies”, available at www.thenewhumanitarian.org/report/100489/lost-chaos-lgbti-people-emergencies. Human Rights Watch, “Marry before your house is swept away: child marriage in Bangladesh”. See A/HRC/38/21 and www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Migration/ OHCHR_slow_onset_of_Climate_Change_ENweb.pdf. See www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/Women%20On%20The%20 Move%20In%20A%20Changing%20Climate%20report.pdf. Ibid. FAO, The State of Food and Agriculture: Migration, Agriculture and Rural Development (2018), available at www.fao.org/3/I9549EN/i9549en.pdf.