New study exposes extent of reproductive coercion

A groundbreaking new study published in the online journal Contraception sheds light on a little-recognized form of abuse in which men use coercion and birth control sabotage to cause their partners to become pregnant against their wills. “Pregnancy Coercion, Intimate Partner Violence and Unintended Pregnancy,” conducted by researchers at the University of California Davis School of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health, is the first quantitative examination of the relationship among intimate partner violence, reproductive coercion and unintended pregnancy.

Among the study's key findings:

• Approximately one in five young women said they experienced pregnancy coercion, and 15 percent said they experienced birth control sabotage;

• Fifty-three percent of respondents said they had experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner; and

• Thirty-five percent of the women who reported partner violence also reported either pregnancy coercion or birth control sabotage.

"Pregnancy coercion and birth control sabotage are common among young women utilizing family planning clinics," the authors conclude, "and in the context of partner violence, are associated with increased risk for unintended pregnancy."

Read more about the study here and here.