Utilizing an intersectional feminist lens to advance justice-oriented scholarship and practice with survivors of interpersonal violence
AI Summary
Intimate partner violence is a major public health problem causing physical, mental, economic and mortality harms, disproportionately affecting historically and systemically marginalised groups.
Intersectional feminist and interdisciplinary frameworks reveal how structural and institutional forces shape individual and interpersonal experiences of violence and generate disparities.
Justice-oriented research and practice must identify drivers of violence-related disparities and prioritise community healing, engagement and trauma-informed care for survivors.
Psychol Trauma. 2026 Jun 29. doi: 10.1037/tra0002219. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Intimate partner violence, which includes physical assault, sexual violation and coercion, economic abuse, as well as psychological aggression within romantic relationships, remains a pressing public health issue, affecting millions of adults in the United States each year. The costs of such experiences are high, contributing to risk of adverse physical and mental health outcomes, decreased economic and educational attainment, as well as risk of early mortality. Evidence suggests that intimate partner violence and its deleterious consequences are experienced more frequently by those holding historically and systemically marginalized social identities, including people of color, sexual and gender minorities, as well as immigrants and refugees. Yet, more research is needed to both understand why these disparities emerge; and from a clinical perspective, how to effectively address violence within historically and systemically marginalized communities.
METHOD: To achieve these aims, we must look outside the boundaries of psychology toward feminist and interdisciplinary frameworks. Such perspectives illuminate how structural and institutional forces interact and shape our individual and interpersonal experiences, including interpersonal violence.
RESULTS: Integrating these perspectives into existing ecological frameworks illuminates how structural and institutional forces interact and shape survivors’ individual and interpersonal experiences, including intimate partner violence.
CONCLUSIONS: Our goal is to advance justice-oriented research and practice by both identifying the drivers of violence-related disparities and advocating for community healing and engagement as essential components of trauma-informed care for survivors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
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