Gender-based violence and health and allied professionals following the great east Japan disasters

Yoshihama, Mieko

Saturday, March 21, 2015: 9:50 AM-11:10 AM

Room 2 (Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel)

Speaker:
Mieko Yoshihama, PhD, MSW, ACSW, University of Michigan

Presentation Format:
Scientific Program Report

Learning Objectives:

Describe different types of gender-based violence perpetrated following major disasters.
Identify specific ways in which disasters influence the vulnerability of women to gender-based violence.
Suggest strategies for improving the health care response to post-disaster gender-based violence.

Description:
Eighty-two unduplicated gender-based violence (GBV) incidents following the 2011 Great East Japan Disasters were reported in an informant survey. The majority involved perpetrators that the victims knew; exploitation of women’s sense of fear, helplessness, and powerlessness was frequently reported. Health and allied professionals were reported to have been both victims and perpetrators of GBV. “Second injury” by health and allied professionals (e.g., dismissing/minimizing the abuse, blaming the victim) were also reported, calling for additional professional training and organizational capacity building.