Background

In 2011, Mary Olson of Nuclear Information and Resource Service published an independent analysis of a National Academy of Sciences report which found women suffer greater harm from radiation exposure than men.

The same year, the World Health Organization published a major report on the impact of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan, which also found that girls will be disproportionately harmed by radiation.

These critical yet under-reported findings led to the creation of the Gender and Radiation Impact Project, a 501(c)3 educational and funding nonprofit that works at the intersection of public health, medicine, and public policy. We bring together top thinkers to understand the role biological sex plays in harm from radiation.

 
“The realization that girls and women have a greater risk of cancer, disease and death from radiation exposure than do boys and men is important news. We must gain a better understanding of this difference, and ensure that society provides adequate protection, through scientifically informed regulations and practices.”
— Terrence Clark, MD, Board Chair
 

Mission

The mission of Gender and Radiation Impact Project is to catalyze better choices for preventing unintended exposure to low level ionizing radiation and an overall reduction in harm – for everyone, but especially little girls who are most impacted by radiation exposure. 

In 2021 the Board of Directors formalized this STATEMENT:

The mission of the Gender and Radiation Impact Project (GRIP) is to:      

·         Promote a better understanding of how harm from ionizing radiation is related to gender and age at the time of exposure,

·         Encourage research that clarifies these relationships, and

·         Advocate for safety standards and regulations solidly based on this research.


Vision

Gender Impact and Radiation Project envisions a world where the needs of girls, women, and all stages of the life cycle are widely factored into health regulations and safety procedures. We also seek a future where all people are fully informed with the knowledge to better protect themselves and where:

  • Leaders at every level of education and training – from medical and technical to industrial and laboratory – re-think radiation impacts and take necessary precautions to protect everyone

  • Legislators, licensing agencies, and regulators proactively support policies for harm reduction

  • National and global energy and security decisions will choose non-nuclear, non-radiological options to preserve the health and viability of future generations, in particular educating the public on the importance of the universalization of the TPNW and the Treaty as a scientific resource

  • Parents and doctors better protect those most vulnerable to radiation, particularly young girls and their future children

 
 

Impact

The Gender and Radiation Impact Project builds strategic alliances with public health agencies, women’s groups, and medical professionals to address this issue with the goal, at the very least, of a federal warning that gender and age are significant factors in risk of cancer from ionizing radiation exposure.

GRIP’s dedication to contributing much-needed data and analysis allowed UN diplomats, civil society, and impacted communities to formulate an evidence-based reframing of nuclear weapons into the jurisdiction of Humanitarian Law and work around the notoriously adversarial Security Council to garner enough votes in the General Assembly to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on July 7, 2017.