EmpoWERMENT

Our premise is to conduct research at the service of society. Inspired by the idea that humiliation is "the atomic bomb of emotions" and the force that most divides people (Lindner, 2006), we want our work to contribute, from the most theoretical research, to the care of dignity in the human being and equality between people and groups. One of the most effective ways to combat humiliation and inequality is the empowerment of victims. To date, our work on empowerment has focused on the area of stigma towards people with achondroplasia, studying the role that the construction of a positive social identity around the stigmatized condition has in protecting the psychological well-being of the victims (Branscombe et al., 2012).

In our current research we are focusing on the empowerment of women in the field of sexist violence (Agudo et al., 2024). In this field, we are carrying out new studies whose objective is to identify the factors that can block the cognitive-emotional processes that favor the appearance of humiliation and submission in women. Similarly, we want to study the factors that empower women to act and break out of the humiliating situation. Identifying these factors will allow us to contribute to the development of action strategies with victims of humiliation in general and with those of gender violence in particular.