Illegal residential eviction as reproductive injustice: Numbers and stories from the social epidemiology to combat unjust residential evictions (SECURE) study

Objective To qualitatively understand the public health implications of illegal residential evictions among Black reproductive age women. Methods In July 2024, we conducted 55 semi-structured interviews with reproductive age Black women from Metro-Detroit, Michigan who reported experiencing illegal eviction as adults, as part of the Social Epidemiology to Combat Unjust Residential Evictions (SECURE) study. We used reflexive thematic inquiry with a reproductive justice analysis. Results Illegal eviction negatively impacted every tenet of the reproductive justice framework including the human rights to have children, not have children, and parent children in safe and sustainable communities. To elucidate how illegal evictions impinge upon reproductive justice rights, we identified nearly a dozen subthemes including stigma, constrained reproductive choice, violence, displacement during and after pregnancy, family disruption and policing, parenting strain, and persistent housing and community hazards. Conclusions This study provides new evidence about illegal evictions as a public health exposure, and how they usurp the reproductive justice rights of Black women. Policy solutions, including enforcement of tenant protections against illegal eviction, especially for pregnant and postpartum women, and federal government funded reparations to the Black American descendants of US chattel slavery are warranted.