Webinar – Doing Citizen Science with Vulnerable Communities: Ethics and Method in a Study on Trans Reproductive Justice

This 4EU+ webinar is part of 1CORE – One Comprehensive Research-Intensive European University. Speaker: Dr Paula Dürks Cassol, Sorbonne University Description: What does it mean to do citizen science responsibly with a community that has been historically excluded and pathologized by the very institutions meant to serve it? This talk draws on doctoral research examining trans people's access to reproductive healthcare in Portugal after the 2018 Gender Self-Determination Law, which found that legal recognition alone has not dismantled the medico-legal barriers trans people still face. Centered on Photovoice — an arts-based participatory method used alongside policy analysis and professional interviews— the session reflects on the ethical commitments, power dynamics, and methodological choices involved in centering marginalized participants as legitimate knowledge-holders, offering practical lessons for anyone designing citizen science with vulnerable or historically silenced communities.