This is Trauma.

 In her book, Trauma and Recovery, Judith Herman defined trauma events as being events where “the victim is rendered helpless by overwhelming force” and that “overwhelm the ordinary systems of care that give people a sense of control, connection, and meaning.”. There is not much documentation of the events included above being explored in the framework of trauma theory. This is due to the fact that this issue does not get coverage in general, as well as the fact that the population is often left out of these discussions. 
 

Due to the lack of research on the demographic of women in the U.S. after the recent issues, I will be utilizing research done on victims of forced sterilization in 19th century Germany. It can be reasonably drawn that victims of forced sterilization in the U.S. in recent years would have similar reactions to victims of forced sterilization from 19th century Germany due to the nature of the traumatization being parallels (a government body violating the rights of its citizenry).  
   

One of the most common feelings many victims of forced sterilization recorded was shame. A victim wrote in 1987, ‘The sterilization was in May 1937. After that I would not leave the apartment because of the feelings of shame, of inferiority.”(Westermann). This speaks towards Herman’s discussion of the stages of trauma recovery. The sentiments expressed above portray someone who lacks internal safety. One woman speaks of experiencing crippling pain, so much that she could barely sit down, but the shame and humiliation did not allow her to seek help. 
 

This leads to another aspect that is extremely important, which is the aspect of the community. Due to the lack of internal safety these women have within themselves and their mental health, they are unable to seek out connections. The study explained that there was a great psychological strain caused by forced childlessness. One woman claimed she felt immense pain whenever she would see a mother with her child(Westermann). This causes her to isolate herself from certain communities she would have otherwise engaged with. 
 

Moreover, one of the most harmful aspects of experiencing this trauma is the silence accompanied by it. Many women kept their experiences secret, due to it being taboo, shameful, or just simply uncomfortable to talk about. However, this silence fed into the idea that what they had gone through was shameful, feeding into a vicious cycle of self-blame. 
 

This project attempts to address this problem by addressing the culture of silence that surrounds the issue. The online campaign will highlight the stories of victims whose reproductive autonomy was compromised. This will hopefully not only shed light on the perseverance of this issue within the United States, but also combat the nature of self-blame. Additionally, through offering women an outlet and opportunity to tell their stories, they will hopefully begin the process of remembrance and mourning. Further, through interaction with the online campaign, these women could go through the reconnection stage of recovery by finding a community within the online space who they can relate to.