Nature, gender, trauma

The role of nature in recovering from intimate partner violence

Bibliographic Data

ID19392620
AuthorsKimberley Kinder (0000-0001-7097-2225, Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume392
Pages118992
Publication date2026-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Science & Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0277-9536 • E-ISSN: 1873-5347
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.118992
PMID41544347
OpenAlexW7124165101
LanguageEN
References cited57

Scholars in public health, urban planning, and social work embrace the notion that contact with nature promotes health and wellness, including in the context of trauma. This article analyzes the lived experiences of women recovering from Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) to explore two propositions: (a) contact with nature promotes trauma recovery for women and (b) access to nature as a healing aid is compromised by experiences of gender and trauma. Based on qualitative interviews with eighty IPV survivors, I found significant support for the first proposition: many participants experienced nature as an important source of support during the recovery process. However, I also found significant evidence for the second proposition: because access to nature is mediated by gender and violence, IPV creates negative feedback loops where the people most likely to experience IPV also have reduced access to nature as a wellness aid. Examining these gendered and trauma-related experiences reveals how power and inequity are woven into the natural environments often associated with healing. • Contact with nature promotes health and wellness. • Women recovering from IPV experience nature as a healing space. • Gender and trauma reduce access to nature as a healing space. • Disparities in access to nature can be addressed once they are better understood

Context (archaeology) · Domestic violence · Lived experience · Poison control · Power (physics) · Qualitative research · Suicide prevention · Child Abuse and Trauma · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Urban Green Space and Health