Cherra Mathis is a globally oriented scholar focused on forced migration and gender violence. She uses qualitative methods to explore advocacy, trauma, stress and burnout at the intersection of human rights and immigration enforcement. Her ongoing projects focus on social work's role in interprofessional trauma-informed legal advocacy for survivors of violence.

Recent Publications:

Mathis, C. M., Huslage, M., & Held, M. L. (2026). Traveling together, traveling alone: Experiences of violence and danger for migrating children and families in the US–Mexico borderlands. Social Sciences, 15(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15010023 

Mathis, C.M., Lehman-Held, M., Latus, K. & Cook Heffron, L. (2025). Clinical social work’s place in migrant justice: A call to act on our ethical commitments. Social Sciences, 14(12), 701. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14120701

Messing, J. T., Lin, H.-F., Wachter, K., Cardenas, I., Suarez, C., Mathis, C. M., Njie-Carr, V. P. S., Sabri, B., & Campbell, J. (2025). The predictive validity of the Danger Assessment for Immigrant Women (DA-I). Violence Against Women, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012251391128

Mathis, C.M., Steiner, J. J., Kappas Mazzio, A., Bagwell-Gray, M., Wachter, K., Johnson-Agbakwu, C., Messing, J., & Nizigiyimana, J. (2024). Sexual and reproductive healthcare needs of refugee women exposed to gender-based violence: The case for trauma-informed care in resettlement contexts. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(8), Article 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21081046

Mathis, C.M. & Androff, D. (2023). Inside the “super hero combo”: Interprofessional tensions in legal-social service teams providing immigration services. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research. https://www.doi.org/10.1086/727359

Dunne, K. & Mathis, C.M. (2022). Practice note: Domestic violence advocacy and response to intimate partner homicide in the Covid-19 era. Homicide Studies. 26(4), 333-344  https://doi.org/10.1177/10887679221112037