Unveiling How Floods Marginalize Women: Gendered Vulnerabilities and Capabilities in Pekalongan City, Indonesia

ABSTRACT This study examines how recurrent coastal flooding reshapes gendered vulnerabilities and capabilities in two communities in Pekalongan City, Indonesia. Drawing on in‐depth interviews, focus‐group discussions, and observations, the analysis applies an integrated framework of vulnerabilities and capabilities to investigate changes in livelihoods, domestic roles, mobility, and access to resources. Rather than treating women as uniformly more vulnerable, the findings reveal differentiated vulnerabilities and capabilities associated with gendered divisions of labor. Men experience prolonged occupational exposure in submerged work environments and intensified breadwinner pressure, whereas women face sustained domestic exposure, mobility constraints linked to caregiving responsibilities, and limited control over financial resources. At the same time, women demonstrate adaptive practices through livelihood diversification, informal financial management, and strategic engagement with social protection programs, but these capabilities remain shaped by structural constraints. This study argues that vulnerabilities and capabilities result from the relationship between environmental stress and the gendered division of labor. These findings underscore the importance of adaptation policies that address structural gender inequalities while strengthening context‐specific adaptive capacities to support equitable and sustainable resilience strategies.