Trauma

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Rani Desai, Ph.D.

The occurrence of violence and other types of trauma in the lives of women and girls is increasingly being documented. However, gender specific effects in the health and mental health consequences of trauma are much less studied. Historically, research on trauma focused on different types of traumatic experiences in men and women. Much of the trauma research in men, for example, examined emergency response workers and soldiers. While the research focus in women has largely been on domestic partner violence and childhood abuse. Today, however, women are serving in the military in ever increasing numbers. And, with the recent conflicts in the Middle East, more than in any other previous U.S. conflict, women also comprise substantial proportions of returning veterans with combat exposure.

Vision

The goal of the Women and Trauma Core is to gain a better understanding of how the experience of trauma and the risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as well as accompanying health and mental health conditions, are significantly different in women than in men. The Core will use this information to improve prevention, identification, and treatment, and will communicate research findings through a variety of academic and public outlets.