Other publications illustrate that many researchers are beginning to examine the multiplicity of issues that affect the learning of marginalized women. For example, L. Selme (1998) in her unpublished master’s thesis, “The literacy education of federally incarcerated women” concludes that there is a multitude of factors at play which impact traumatized women’s ability to participate in education. Therefore, it is not just the fact that they are in prison that causes difficulty with learning, it’s all the things that brought them there in the first place and the events that surround them while they are incarcerated which compound the issue. In her study she revealed the complexity of factors which impacted women’s education in a correctional setting, debilitating crises, disruptive change, confusion, frustration, anger, and death to name a few, and called for a change in literacy approaches starting with relevant learning materials and strategies.

Jenny Horsman (1998 and 2000) worked with learners who were similar to the learners in the WISH Learning Centre, in the sense that many, if not most of them have experienced sexual or physical abuse at some time in their lives. Horsman’s conclusions and insights about the impact of violence on women's literacy learning and program participation framed our discoveries about how to look at what can be done in program development and in terms of practitioners’ involvement that would enable women to learn better. These texts gave us direction and an understanding of the complexity of the issue of learning for the women in the WISH Learning Centre. Horsman contends that because so many women experience violence and have suffered traumatic experiences, we must approach our literacy classes with sensitivity to the effect that has on their learning. According to Horsman, one of the main things we need to think differently about is the prevalence of violence. We also need to consider the extent to which and fact that so many people, especially women are affected by violence. And, we need to consider and respond to the fact that many of the adult learners who show up in our classes have been traumatized at some point in their lives. This trauma deeply affects learners’ ability to feel safe in situations, to trust people who get close to them, and to want to reveal themselves; all critical elements in learning situations.