Photovoice is a community-based participatory research (CBPR) method grounded in feminist theory, documentary photography, and empowerment education. Photovoice engages participants in taking photographs to illustrate an issue of concern and share about their experiences in their own words. Although limited photovoice research has been conducted with survivors of human trafficking and gender-based violence (GBV), photovoice may be particularly suitable for survivors given the person-centered orientation respecting survivor voice and the commitment to power sharing.
At Eleison, we conducted research to understand the psychosocial impact of participating in photovoice upon survivors in the Philippines. Thematic analysis was used to analyze focus group discussion (FGD) data with survivors who had joined a prior photovoice study at Eleison. Five themes emerged from the analysis exploring the psychosocial impact of photovoice participation among survivors:
1. Sense of belonging: The process of connecting and sharing similar experiences allowed survivors to experience a sense of belonging and connection with other survivors, strengthening supportive community and reducing isolation.
2. Enhanced self-efficacy: Photovoice built survivors’ self-efficacy, with many participants expressing great pride in what they accomplished in the study. Participation in data analysis and community dissemination was especially powerful in building confidence.
3. Bravery: The emotionally supportive environment created in photovoice allowed participants to see their own bravery in sharing their experiences. Photovoice gave survivors an opportunity to face their fears and open up about their stories in a safe way.
4. Overcoming shame: Reflecting on their own experiences and sharing stories with peers helped survivors overcome shame regarding their experiences of trauma and abuse. Photovoice can help survivors construct new self and collective narratives.
5. Inspiration: Participants were inspired by hearing the stories of their peers. Survivors felt a renewed commitment to help others in their community, along with a greater sense of hope about the future.
Findings suggest that photovoice can be both a research method and a psychosocial intervention. Photovoice is a simple, flexible, accessible method that can be implemented in a variety of settings by professionals of varying skill levels and can be incorporated into existing programs in communities with differing levels of literacy. In many low-resource contexts, an insufficient number of trained mental health professionals, mental health stigma, and lack of culturally-congruent interventions create barriers to ensuring survivors receive needed psychosocial support. Researchers have identified an urgent need for psychosocial programming for human trafficking survivors that can be facilitated by non-mental health professionals in low-resource settings. Photovoice holds promise as a psychosocial intervention that could be less stigmatized, more accessible, and more feasibly implemented by community-based organizations. For further details regarding this study, please refer to our research brief, as well as our publication in the Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment.
