While the onslaught of catastrophic flooding is far from over as over one-third of the country remains submerged, it is time to turn our attention toward an often unspoken crisis in the making. Humanitarian agencies have raised an alarm over the grave threat of gender-based violence and child protection concerns. Since the government is overwhelmed with its response-centric approach to disaster management, little to no thought or political will is left to consider the dire implications of neglecting the specialised needs of women and girls. That females, especially in rural areas, find themselves afflicted by a double whammy in times like these has long been known. In a perfect replication of the trend already seen in the aftermath of floods like Hurricane Katrina in the US or Australian bushfires, there have been reports of heightened insecurity by over 65 per cent of the women surveyed in relief camps in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Lack of access to fundamental services like latrine or menstrual hygiene items is just the tip of the iceberg, which remains shrouded in patriarchal-mandated shame. Already, the media is abuzz with miseries of those torn between the pressure to maintain their privacy and their survival instincts in rural Pakistan. Forced to live in close proximity to men who aren’t relatives, many prefer to spend hours in discomfort rather than venture outside and be “caught” by wandering eyes. A lot of this has to do with the societal mindset in general, which, even in such desperate times, does not treat a female like an equal victim but as an object to be further subjugated. Locals trying to lend a shoulder to their sisters-in-need through donations of sanitary products were made the face of a vicious naming-and-shaming campaign. In stark contrast to the likes of UN Women, which put the needs of women at the heart of their responses, the government has not yet shown any inclination of the sort. The heart-wrenching warning signs sent about the needs of 650,000 pregnancies amongst those impacted slither in the lurch. Just last week, Pakistani Ambassador to the US Masood Khan was confronted with the tragic instance of rape in the name of free ration during a press conference in Washington DC. The scale of the disaster upon us has never been seen before. There’s no denying that. But the state cannot cherry-pick who it wishes to save. Building specialised shelters, which surprised many as a great opening act to gender advocacy after floods ravaged Cordoba, Columbia, is just one of the measures, which could be adopted to inculcate a sense of security in millions. *