Disaster and gender: Women's empowerment in the community to build resilience

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26870596
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Hygiene and public health; Gender
• Research Institution: Teikyo University
• Principal Investigator: Ishiguro AYA 帝京大学, 医学部, 助手 (90709693)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 災害 / コミュニティ / ジェンダー / 健康・生活問題 / エンパワーメント / レジリエンス / 在宅被災世帯 / メンタルヘルス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Mortality and health-related problems in communities following the Great East Japan Earthquake were examined using the data in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. It is suggested that the gender gap prevails in the disaster risk. In addition to “hard” factors such as inundation depth, “soft” factors such as community characteristics or social capital may also play a crucial role in improving resilience. Furthermore, an unstable salary and low frequency of going out were associated with psychological distress among working-age women, and community rebuilding activities mainly conducted by women may make residents’ subjective health better.

Free Research Field

公衆衛生学