Photo/Illutration The first floor of a two-story wooden apartment building lies crushed in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, after the Great Hanshin Earthquake on Jan. 17, 1995. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake killed 6,434 people, of whom there were about 1,000 more women than men. I wonder how many people are aware of this.

Many of the female victims were older women who had raised their children, cared for their elderly parents until they passed away and who had lost their husbands.

One of the reasons for their higher fatality rate was that their meager pensions left them with no choice but to “live almost huddled together in old, cramped residences,” according to “Saigai Joseigaku wo Tsukuru,” a book that advocates for a new field of women’s studies specific to times of disaster.

Many of the victims lived in wooden apartment buildings, including so-called “bunka jutaku” (literally, “culture homes”) that were built during the era of Japan’s postwar economic growth, with little regard for earthquake safety.

As the Hanshin quake’s focus was directly under a major population center, about 80 percent of the fatalities were from being crushed under collapsed buildings.

The social disparities that existed in the region took a toll on survivors, too. The lesson drawn from that realization highlighted the need for women’s perspectives in times of catastrophe.

Today, what is referred to in Japanese as “hisaichi no jendaa shiten” (gender-centric perspectives in disaster areas) is taken for granted around the world. In Japan, it was the Hanshin quake that called attention to this concept for the first time.

Lavatories were coed at evacuation centers at the time, which not only rendered them uncomfortable for women to use, but they were also frighteningly dark at night.

Evacuees also lived in open spaces without privacy partitions, leaving women exposed when changing clothes or breast-feeding their babies. Moreover, relief supplies did not include baby food or sanitary napkins.

Since the dire necessity of such things is obvious to female evacuees, having a woman's perspective is indispensable in disaster management.

In the Hanshin region, women’s support groups received reports of sexual assault.

Many of the 100,000 or so people who were fired from their jobs in the immediate aftermath of the quake were said to be women working part time.

Women also complained about being forced to assume all household chores at home after they took in their husbands’ relatives, and about being physically abused by their irascible husbands and boyfriends.

Sacrifices forced on the weak and the vulnerable worsen in times of emergency, which is precisely why our society must always be kept fair and diverse in normal times.

I wonder how much progress we have made since 1995.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 17

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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