Violence Against Women and Children Following the 2011 Great East Japan Disaster: Making the Invisible Visible Through Research

The study looks at violence against women and children after the Great East Japan Disaster of March 2011. It reports on 82 unduplicated cases, gathered through a structured questionnaire completed by informants who worked with disaster-affected people. Cases included domestic violence, sexual assault and unwanted sexual contact. Some of the sexual violence was committed by people outside the victim's intimate circle, who demanded sex in exchange for life-sustaining resources. The authors conclude that measures are urgently needed to prevent and respond to gender-based violence after disasters.

Key points

• 82 unduplicated cases of violence against women and children were reported after the 2011 disaster.
• Data came from a structured questionnaire completed by informants who worked with disaster-affected populations.
• Cases included domestic violence, sexual assault and unwanted sexual contact.
• Some cases involved quid pro quo sexual assault by nonintimates.
• Perpetrators exploited fear, helplessness and powerlessness, using threats to force compliance in exchange for life-sustaining resources.

Limitations

The abstract does not say how many of the cases involved children, nor how the informants were selected. Because the cases are reported by informants, it cannot show how common such violence was across the affected population.