A Critical Introduction to Gender and Disaster: Learning from Women Survivors in Northeast Japan

Abstract

This chapter offers a critical introduction to issues pertaining to gender and disaster, showing that creation of peaceful and inclusive societies where people of all genders are equal is key for successful disaster risk reduction and support. It begins with a review of the literature, illustrating that women are generally more vulnerable than men during and after disasters, and noting that the needs of other genders, too, must also be addressed. Socially constructed gender roles and norms make women more vulnerable than men when disaster strikes, but not all women are vulnerable, and some women regardless of their vulnerability can be proactive in changing their situation. Gender sensitive disaster support should support women in their leadership roles and be cognizant of women's ways of knowing and the important roles they play in informal economies and in their communities. The creation of better societies after disaster through the transformation of gender requires an understanding of gender as more than the roles that women and men play in their societies. Underlying power and social relations, including patriarchal gender hierarchies, must also be considered, and binary understandings of gender challenged. Because vulnerability is not determined entirely by gender, the importance of taking an intersectional approach is also emphasized. The Chapter concludes with examples from the field in Northeast Japan after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that show ways women do, and do not, seek change and empowerment after disaster.