ABSTRACT
When I began researching the impacts of trauma on women’s literacy learning, and reexamining approaches to literacy programming in the light of these impacts, my suspicion was that the aftermath of violence might affect all aspects of literacy involvement, including learner leadership. At that time I wrote that where impacts of violence are not adequately addressed in literacy programs there is a cost for learners, because they face barriers to successful learning; a cost to literacy workers, because they are frustrated by lack of knowledge about how best to support survivors in overcoming barriers to learning; and a cost to programs as a whole, because learners struggle to participate effectively as leaders sharing in running their programs. This research into trauma and learning revealed a wide range of impacts and suggested many possible shifts to literacy work.
