Panel Discussion 7 - Centering Black Girls' and Women’s Experiences of Community Violence

While the cascading effect of community violence exposure (CVE) on Black Americans has been increasingly recognized as an urgent public health crisis, the experiences and outcomes of CVE in Black women and girls, specifically, are often overlooked or excluded from intervention and prevention efforts. Prior research has indicated that Black women and girls are significantly more likely to experience direct victimization (e.g., witnessing, injury or death by community violence) than their non-Black peers. They are also at significant risk of secondary victimization (i.e., homicide survivorship), leaving them to shoulder the disproportionate burden of navigating complex emotional, physical, financial, and social consequences in the aftermath of community trauma.

This panel will facilitate a critical conversation that centers the multidimensional voices and experiences of Black women and girls within the context of CVE. Panelists are comprised of a public health researcher and clinical and community psychologists who will share insights from their experiences servicing Black families in Baltimore and Chicago who are impacted by chronic, pervasive CVE.

First, we will draw upon Kimberlé Crenshaw's intersectionality framework to critically examine how gendered racial oppression contributes to the systemic neglect of Black women and girls in community violence intervention, thus exacerbating their risks of harm. Next, we will present an overview of the nuances and impact of CVE within this population. We will then explore how Black feminist principles and womanist therapy can be integrated with evidence based cognitive behavioral interventions to guide culturally specific conceptualizations of traumatic stress responses and identity-affirmative treatment. We will present examples from our work with Black girls and share about a novel group therapy model for Black women caregivers that builds upon cultural coping strategies and strengths to facilitate posttraumatic growth after the injury or loss of a loved one to community violence. Lastly, we will highlight collaborative care models that leverage community partnerships, research, and advocacy to address socio-contextual factors that may hinder or facilitate community trauma recovery.