In June 2022, the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade. As a trauma researcher who studies intimate abuse, the implications echoed loudly. I recall thinking (and blogging about for Psychology Today) at the time that researchers have a term for forcing people to stay pregnant: reproductive coercion. In recent years, research on reproductive coercion had been growing quickly.
In the shadow of the Dobbs decision, I joined my Michigan State University colleague, Dr. Heather McCauley, and TSS Group Member, Maria-Ernestina Christl, in putting out a call for a special issue on trauma, violence, and reproductive rights for the Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, thanks to the support of then-editor, Dr. Jennifer Freyd.
This summer, the special issue was published with six articles that explore the intersections of trauma, violence, and reproductive justice. The issue opens with an editorial from McCauley, Christl, and me — available here. In that editorial, we pointed to the importance of collaboration, a theme of Every 90 Seconds as well:
Given the consequences for both individuals and communities, reproductive injustice should matter to us all, regardless of our genders or other identities (DePrince et al., 2022). Further, shifting deeply entrenched systems is not a task achievable by any of us alone, nor by any one discipline.
McCauley, Christl, & DePrince, 2023
I invite you to check out the important theoretical and empirical articles in this special issue, and to find your interest in collaborating to build a better world together.
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For more on taking action to end intimate violence, check out Every 90 Seconds: Our Common Cause Ending Violence against Women, available from Oxford University Press or:
Trauma Research Notes 