(To stay up to date on the podcast, you can subscribe here on Substack or find us over on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube. Please subscribe and leave a review!) Episode Summary: In this insightful conversation, Dr. Courtney Skiera-Vaughn shares her extensive experience in cross-cultural trauma, human trafficking, and sexual ethics. She explores how cultural perspectives shape our understanding of trauma, the myths surrounding human trafficking, and the importance of humility and contextual understanding in addressing these complex issues. What I saw there (in Uganda), as well as what I have learned in a variety of other cultures, is that in these cultures that are more embodied, many of the trauma symptoms show up somatically. So they are physical symptoms, not emotional. So it’s going to be headaches that are so bad you can’t see. They are stomach aches that are not explained. It is these these other types of things, those are the primary, not the emotional. And with my dissertation that I did looking at how stress and trauma are conceptualized within Uganda, who does not have, they do not have vernacular words for stress or trauma. A lot of my participants were saying, in general, the quote was, " You in the US separate who the human is. You separate the body from the emotions and the mind and the spirit. In Africa, we are one, we are whole.” We have to recognize that 85% of the research we conduct is conducted in the West. Less than 5 % of research is conducted with a non-English speaker as a researcher. - Dr. Courtney Skiera-Vaughn My journey to understand sexual ethics took a marked detour when I first encountered sex trafficking survivors. Hearing their stories, studying their experiences, and growing to understand the larger forces that created their vulnerability sent me on a 20-year journey. This series on Cruciform Sexuality, and much of my ministry, was born out of an encounter that took place when trafficking became real to me for the first time. One of my beloved companions on this journey, whose research, co-labor, and friendship have deeply impacted me, is my friend Dr. Courtney Skiera Vaughn. I was delighted to sit down with her this week to record a conversation about her research, wrestle together with some of the hard contextual questions regarding sexual ethics, and to reflect on our own journeys. As with all conversations in this series, we dive into difficult subject matter around sex trafficking and exploitation. So be aware of your own health, needs, and limits. In this episode, we talk about polygamy, and I reference this case study I wrote for this series. Connect with Courtney This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drgregarthur.substack.com
