Exploring Transformative Justice Principles to Inform Survivor-Centered Design for Muslim Women in the United States

Abstract

Domestic violence (DV) is a social, political, and legal problem and requires contextual examination. In the U.S., earlier advocacy work focused on law reform to empower survivors in influencing the public and state in taking DV seriously and providing resources to support and protect survivors. However, harm is still perpetuated systemically and socially for survivors, especially from religious and racial minorities. In my dissertation work, I focus on DV within the Muslim population in the U.S. due to the unique issues Muslim survivors face when dealing with governmental services and service providers (e.g., gendered Islamophobia, racial discrimination, punitive actions) and within the Muslim community itself (e.g., community trauma, untrained faith leaders in dealing with abuse). I argue that in order to validate the Muslim survivor’s experience, provide competent resources and information, and allow for informed decision making, a transformative justice (TJ) approach supported by Islamic feminism and trauma-informed healing concepts must be integrated into design, to provide a multidimensional approach to tackling DV within the Muslim community. I will conceptually explore the strengths and weaknesses of using a TJ model through using design as a mode of social inquiry to elicit and understand the social phenomena of DV and TJ within sociotechnical interventions.

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