Associations Between Unintended Pregnancy, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault in a Population of Queensland Women

Abstract

This study aimed to establish the proportion of women seeking information regarding unintended pregnancy in the context of domestic violence (DV) and/or sexual assault (SA) experiences in Queensland. Mental health, sociodemographic variables, and gestation at first and repeated contacts were examined for 6249 women primarily seeking information regarding abortion options during an unintended pregnancy over the 5-year period from July 2012 to June 2017. Reports of DV and SA and associations with mental health issues increased significantly across the 5 years. First contact rates of disclosure were 12.2% for DV and 3% for SA, and higher among repeat contacts (38.1% for DV and 14.1% for SA), with recurring contact facilitating violence disclosure. Restricting access to abortions in the context of violence impedes a woman's agency in attempts to separate from violence and highlights the need for safe, supportive, and accessible services, to assist in screening and assisting with violence.

Termination of pregnancy in Queensland post-decriminalisation: a content analysis of client records from an all-options pregnancy counselling organisation

“…48 The impact of COVID-19 has further highlighted the need for services that are responsive and focused on supporting reproductive autonomy of a group already facing inequities. 3 This should include providing special consideration for the comprehensive needs of health consumers, including their right to choose, providing readily available education programs on ToP, sexual and reproductive health, and equitable access to contraceptive options despite other competing demands on the health system.…”

“…A combination of conventional and directed content analysis and basic descriptive analysis was conducted on client data collected by counsellors from an all-options pregnancy counselling service in Queensland between December 2018 and June 2020. This approach was informed by a previous study conducted using the same dataset 3 and content analysis literature. 26 Ethical approval was granted by the University of Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval Number: 202001309).…”

“…2 This geographical distribution and Queensland's diverse multicultural population, create challenges for ToP healthcare delivery. 3 The 2014 national introduction of Early Medical Abortion (EMA), 4 and Queensland decriminalisation of ToP in December 2018 5 , have started to address some of these challenges. Prior to decriminalisation, accessing and providing ToP was a criminal offence, unless performed to prevent negative physical and or mental health outcomes.…”

Shared decision‐making for women facing an unplanned pregnancy: A qualitative study

“…Sonfield & Kost, 2015). Misuse and discontinuation of contraceptives (Bellizzi, Mannava, Nagai, & Sobel, 2020; WHO, 2019), sexual violence, being young or financially stressed (Iseyemi, Zhao, McNicholas, & Peipert, 2017; Sharman, Douglas, Price, Sheeran, & Dingle, 2018), and their effects on overall mental health, such as postnatal depression of mothers and children(Nishimura & Ohashi, 2010), lead to abortion (Abajobir, Maravilla, Alati, & Najman, 2016). Studies suggest that unintended pregnancy may be an important risk factor in predicting and understanding subsequent grief (Sriarporn et al, 2017) and child abuse (Guterman, 2015).…”

Power-Related Emotions, Alcohol Intoxication, and Nonconsensual Sex Intentions: The Role of Fear of Intimacy

“…Within the United States, 45% of women report experiencing some form of sexual assault, and 25% report experiencing a completed rape at some point in their life (Breiding et al, 2015; Morgan & Oudekerk, 2019). Sexual assault victimization is associated with myriad adverse outcomes, including mental and physical illnesses (Nickerson et al, 2013; Sharman et al, 2019), occupational challenges (Muffly & Gerney, 2015), and difficulties with interpersonal functioning (Testa et al, 2011). While men certainly experience sexual assault and current rates are likely underestimations (Forsman, 2017), worldwide and specific to the United States, rates of sexual assault against women are consistently higher than those against men (Basile et al, 2014).…”