Utilizing an intersectional feminist lens to advance justice-oriented scholarship and practice with survivors of interpersonal violence.

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).