ИСТИНА

Men and women perceive, feel and contribute differently to both exacerbating and solving the problem of climate change in the Arctic, which is reflected in the gender-differentiated impact on health, employment, migration behavior, and economic well-being. There are also differences in the ecological footprint of men and women, gender inequality in decision making and in the labor market, especially in resource-dependent sectors such as fishing, forestry and mining. For example, in Alaska women account for only about 14 percent of commercial fishermen, and one-third of processing workers. There are no direct legal restrictions for women in commercial fishing, but there are informal barriers that prevent women from working in this industry: • existing cultural norms (women are seen as sexual or romantic partners rather than as potential employees); • “the‘ design ’of much of the equipment does not suit women’s bodies”; • sexual harassment in the workplace. In addition, barriers for women increase when they have children. For example, in some cases, children are cannot be brought onboard because of unsafety, and the long fishing season leads to conflict with the caring of young children. Such restrictions make it difficult for women to participate in resource management and environmental management. At the same time, women (especially the older generation) have unique knowledge in preserving, processing food (for example, preserving collected mushrooms and berries in the form of pickles and preserves), growing local food, caring for children in conditions of food shortages and other goods, which it was especially noticeable in the Russian Arctic during the period of the 90s, when there was an economic crisis and food problems throughout the country. In the Russian Arctic, fishing, hunting and picking mushrooms and berries are very popular among the population (the last one, for example, is almost not common in Alaska compared to the Russian Arctic). Hunting and fishing in the Russian Arctic is not widespread among women. In Alaska, this situation is changing. Social media and journalism play a role in breaking stereotypes about masculinity and fishing. In addition, there is a popularization of fishing and other outdoor activities among women through a national program “Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW)”. These measures improve the food security of the population and women in particular, which is a good way for adaptation to climate change. The study was carried out within the RFBR project 18-05-60088 "Sustainability of development of Arctic cities in the conditions of natural and climatic changes and socio-economic transformations".