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Reproductive coercion is a collection of behaviors intended to pressure or coerce a woman into becoming pregnant. Reproductive coercion is a form of domestic violence, also known as intimate partner violence, where behavior concerning reproductive health is used to maintain power, control, and domination within a relationship. This reproductive control, or a (commonly male) partners' attempt to control a woman's reproductive choices, is highly correlated to unintended pregnancy. Women report that their partners tell them that they want to leave a legacy or have them in their lives forever as the reason they perpetrate reproductive coercion.

The three forms of reproductive coercion are pregnancy pressure, birth control sabotage, and pregnancy coercion; they can exist independently or occur simultaneously. There are also three periods in which reproductive coercion can take place: preintercourse, during intercourse, and postintercourse. Preintercourse may involve pregnancy pressure, during intercourse may involve birth control sabotage, and postintercourse may involve pregnancy coercion.

If a woman does not comply with her partner's wishes, acts of violence against her are possible and common.

Men can also be victims of reproductive coercion, although the majority of victims - 86% - are women. Reproductive coercion can happen to men if their partners lie about or misrepresent their contraception usage or need, also known as contraceptive fraud.

Pregnancy pressure

Pregnancy pressure is enacted on a woman by her partner to become pregnant when the sexual partner destroys or fails to use contraceptive without telling the woman or by pressuring her into having unprotected sex. Ways in which this occurs is through verbal demands, verbal threats, and physical violence. The behaviors are intended to pressure the partner into becoming pregnant, in order to keep control over the woman and keep her from pursuing other romantic relationships.

Examples of verbal pressure are:

• If you have a baby, you will never have to worry about me leaving you. I will always be around.
• You would have my baby if you really loved me.
• I'll leave you if you don't get pregnant.
• I'll hurt you if you don't agree to become pregnant.
• I'll have a baby with someone else if you don't become pregnant.

In a survey of 474 young mothers, aged 11 to 21, in Chicago, 48% reported experiencing pregnancy pressure.

Birth control sabotage

Main article: Birth control sabotage

Reproductive coercion can take the form of birth control sabotage, either as verbal sabotage or behavioral sabotage, and acts as an active interference with contraceptive methods. Direct actions are taken to ensure the failure of birth control (such as poking holes or breaking condoms) or complete removal of contraception (such as flushing birth control pills or removing contraceptive rings or patches). Partners can also forbid women from using family planning or force them to have sex without protection. 14% of surveyed young mothers reported undergoing birth control sabotage. A separate study found that 66% of teen mothers on public assistance who had recently experienced intimate partner violence disclosed birth control sabotage by a dating partner. When women did try to negotiate condom use with their abusive partners, 32% said they were verbally threatened, 21% reported physical abuse, and 14% said their partners threatened abandonment.

The most common forms of birth control sabotage were when the partner either refused to wear a condom or ejaculated before withdrawal, although it was the agreed-upon contraceptive method.

In Canada, a man was convicted of sexual assault for poking holes in his girlfriend's condoms. She expressed that she did not want to become pregnant, and when she did, he confessed to the birth control sabotage.

Pregnancy coercion

Pregnancy coercion is controlling the outcome of a pregnancy - to either force the continuation or termination the pregnancy - by threats or acts of violence. Reproductive coercion behaviors may result in several unintended pregnancies that are then followed by multiple coerced abortions.

Women seeking abortions are nearly 3 times as likely to have experienced reproductive coercion by a partner in the past year.

A Guttmacher Institute policy analysis states that forcing a woman to terminate a pregnancy she wants or to continue a pregnancy she does not want violates the basic human right of her reproductive health.

Role in domestic violence

A strong association between domestic violence and reproductive coercion exists.

The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey defines partner violence by measuring five types of domestic violence, including control of reproductive health, citing pregnancy pressure and birth control sabotage.

85-93% of women who experienced pregnancy pressure or birth control sabotage also reported physical or sexual partner violence. In a separate survey of 1,319 women, about one-third of all participants who experienced domestic violence also experienced reproductive coercion, but only about 15% of women reported reproductive coercion in the absence of other forms of domestic violence. And, as many as 75% of abused women between the ages of 18 and 49 also reported some form of reproductive coercion. Thus, women who are in abusive relationships are at a higher risk of reproductive coercion and unintended pregnancy due to their compromised position within their relationship regarding family planning decision making.

Domestic violence interferes with a woman's ability to manage her health. It causes pain and can expose her to irreversible conditions, such as STIs, miscarriages, and premature delivery. It also interferes with her control over her sexuality and autonomy and can cause financial, physical, and emotional harm.

Teen pregnancy

Teen dating violence, and specifically reproductive coercion, could be a factor in the United States' increasing teen-pregnancy rate. As the increase in teen pregnancy rate has occurred, both birth rate and abortion rate have increased, pointing to reproductive coercion within teen dating relationships as an explanation. Teenaged girls in physically violent relationships are 3.5 times more likely to become pregnant and are 2.8 times more likely to fear the possible consequences of negotiating condom use than non-abused girls. They are also half as likely to use condoms consistently compared to non-abused girls, and teenage boys perpetrating dating violence are less likely to use condoms.

26% abused teenage girls reported that their boyfriends were trying to get them pregnant.

Prevalence

In a study conducted at family planning clinics in Northern California, 1,278 16- to 29-year-old women reported 19% of the participants had experienced pregnancy pressure and 15% had experienced birth control sabotage. Among 474 teenage mothers in Chicago, 51% reported experiencing at least one form of reproductive coercion from their boyfriends.

See also

• Domestic violence
• Domestic violence and pregnancy
• Contraceptive security
• Reproductive rights
• Birth control
• Timeline of reproductive rights legislation
• Teen dating violence

External links

• Houston Area Women's Center
• Futures Without Violence
• National Domestic Violence Hotline