A Trauma-Informed Approach to Sexual Violence Research Ethics and Open Science

Abstract

The practice of ethics in social science research is a reflexive process of self-review to define a profession’s collective responsibility in the face of changing norms and expectations. In recent years, we have seen transformative changes in how society thinks about supporting sexual assault survivors, and how the scientific community thinks about our obligations to society. Decades of research on trauma and its impact has raised awareness about the needs of victimized individuals, giving rise to the trauma-informed practice movement, which emphasizes that service providers must center survivors’ well-being in all interactions, decisions, and program practices. The field of sexual assault research helped give rise to this movement and provides empirical support for its guiding tenets, and in this article, we explore how to bring these ideas full circle to begin articulating trauma-informed principles for research. A trauma-informed perspective on research challenges scientists to go beyond the requirements of the Belmont Report (1979) and institutional review boards' (IRB) regulations to develop research procedures that fully support survivors’ choice, control, and empowerment. Such reflection on participants’ rights is particularly important given the open science movement sweeping academia, which calls on scientists to share their data publicly to promote transparency, replication, and new discoveries. Disseminating data could pose significant safety, privacy, and confidentiality risks for victims of sexual assault, so we need to evaluate what open science means within a trauma-informed framework. In this article, we examine three key stages of the research process—participant recruitment, data collection, and dissemination—and consider how trauma-informed principles could help, but also could complicate, research practices. We explore these tensions and offer potential solutions so that research on sexual trauma embodies trauma-informed practice.

Immediate and Delayed Reactions to Trauma-related Laboratory Research Among Rape Survivors and Controls

“…At the very least, though, it suggests that the rate of change in PTSD symptoms among rape survivors is no different following participation in research like this than those of women with no history of rape. These findings provide additional support for the view that trauma survivors should be treated compassionately and ethically (Campbell et al, 2019), but that they do not represent a vulnerable population (Collogan et al, 2004).…”

“…They are also relevant to Campbell et al’s (2019) trauma-informed approach to research ethics that highlight the importance of empowering research participants and minimizing unnecessary risks to their emotional well-being. Indeed, our findings suggest that rape survivors derive benefits from participating in research like this that greatly outweighs costs.…”

“…These ethical principles are outlined in the Belmont Report (National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, 1979) and the Nuremberg Code (Nuremberg Military Tribunals, 1949). More recently, Campbell et al (2019) proposed a trauma-informed approach to research ethics that provides a guide for researchers conducting research with sexual assault (i.e., a broad range of unwanted sexual experiences) and rape (i.e., nonconsensual penetrative sex) survivors. They provide important recommendations to researchers regarding trauma-informed approaches to recruitment, data collection, and dissemination that amend the ethical principles outlined in the Belmont Report.…”

“…An evidence-based approach to trauma-related research ethics is fundamental to the research process so that the risks and benefits of such research are as clear as possible (Campbell et al, 2019; Lawyer et al, 2013). Adopting an evidence-based approach to understanding the research participant experience provides clear guidance on how to design trauma-related studies that minimize risks and maximize the benefits of participation, allows researchers to comprehensively and accurately inform participants about the risks and benefits of participation, and allows researchers to empirically address concerns often raised by Institutional Review Boards (IRBs; see Lawyer et al, 2013; Yeater & Miller, 2014).…”

PRimary care rEsponse to domestic violence and abuse in the COvid-19 panDEmic (PRECODE): protocol of a rapid mixed-methods study in the UK

“…Given the highly sensitive nature of DVA research, we will adopt trauma-informed dissemination and data sharing approaches, still consistent with open science [ 60 , 61 ]. Findings from our synthesis will directly inform policy on training and support for general practices by establishing bi-directional communication with policy makers, commissioners, health service providers, service users, and third sector organisations.…”