A UN agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), reported Friday on the gender-specific effects of the tsunami in Asia, and called for increased empowerment of women to address these effects:

The burden on women may have increased due to the high number of people injured or who become ill as epidemics develop, FAO said, noting that due to the household division of labour, women traditionally take care of the sick. They also have the responsibility to fetch water and may now need to increase the amount of time dedicated to collecting both drinking water and freshwater for agriculture crops.

“Fear of sexual violence has been reported to limit women’s and girls’ mobility, for example in search of new economic opportunities,” the agency added, noting the increased cases of rape and abuse against women and children being reported in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Another concern is the more than 150,000 women in the area who are pregnant—50,000 of whom will give birth in the next three months.