The existing climate crisis has had devastating, differential, and gendered consequences on human security. Rural women, specifically, are disproportionately affected by climate-related issues due to their social roles and limited access to, use of, and control over resources, as well as access to justice and decision-making processes.

From an ecofeminist and human security perspective, this study aims to contribute to filling this existing gap by developing actionable recommendations that can be replicated in other contexts for designing local context-specific indicators to collect evidence on the impacts of the climate crisis on rural and Indigenous women’s security conditions.

It highlights local knowledge on how security is conceived of women in climate- and conflict-disrupted settings. In line with the principles of participation and responsiveness of good Security Sector Governance, this study combined face-to-face participatory methodologies to involve rural and Indigenous women living in Putumayo (Colombia), female activists, and active police officers from the Colombian National Police.  

The participation of police officers and rural and Indigenous women enabled reviewing and tailoring global indicators designed by international organizations with an eye to locally specific risks and mitigation strategies.