Reproductive Coercion by Male Sexual Partners: Associations With Partner Violence and College Women’s Sexual Health

Abstract

Reproductive coercion (RC) involves indirect and direct partner behaviors that interfere with effective contraceptive use. RC has been identified as a correlate of intimate partner violence (IPV) among ethnically diverse women sampled from urban health clinics or shelters. Research is needed to determine whether RC is experienced more generally by young women and, if so, whether RC is associated with IPV, multiple indicators of sexual health, or both. In the present study, sexually active undergraduate women ( N = 223, 80% Caucasian/White) provided self-report data on their sexual health and behaviorally specific lifetime experiences of both RC and partner physical violence. About 30% reported experiencing RC from a male sexual partner. Most commonly, RC involved condom manipulation or refusal within an adolescent dating relationship. Experiences of RC and partner violence were not independent; half of the women who reported RC also reported experiencing partner physical violence. Women with a history of RC reported a significantly reduced rate of contraceptive use during last vaginal sex and lower contraceptive and sexual self-efficacy. Additional research on the sociocultural and relational contexts of RC is needed.

Reproductive control by others: means, perpetrators and effects

“…In this review the authors define RC more widely than many others, in the context of gendered control, coercion and violence 8. RC fundamentally interferes with women’s reproductive autonomy generally9 and with their autonomous sexual decision-making more specifically 10. Reproductive coercion is a subset of RC and occurs when a credible threat of harm or force is made to control a woman 5 11.…”

“…Past experiences of RC decrease the odds of contraceptive use at last vaginal sex 10. Women who have recently experienced RC are more likely to request pregnancy testing and STI testing and to seek emergency contraception 17.…”

“…Among US women in a reproductive healthcare setting, black and multiracial ethnicity are both positively associated with RC 22–24. Younger women are more frequent victims of RC,16 25 and it is more likely to occur in longer-term relationships than with casual partners 10…”

School-based interventions for preventing HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy in adolescents

“…Poor health-related outcomes can result from lack of autonomy and difficulty in accessing services. Pregnancy coercion and birth control sabotage has been linked to unintended pregnancy (Miller 2010; Thiel de Bocanegra 2010), and limitations on condom use (Katz 2015), which increases the risk and incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV (Dhairyawan 2013). It is also associated with poor perinatal and maternal health with increased risk of low birth weight and preterm birth (Shah 2010).…”

The effects of men’s hostility toward women, acute alcohol intoxication, and women’s condom request style on men’s condom use resistance tactics.

“…Although the use of coercion in sexual situations is typically considered in relation to non-consensual sex, research suggests that some men also use coercion to obtain unprotected but consensual sex (Davis & Logan-Greene, 2012). A form of reproductive coercion (Chamberlain & Levinson, 2012; Katz, Poleschuck, Beach & Olin, 2015), coercive condom use resistance (CUR) tactics include the use of lies, manipulation, threats, and physical force in order to have unprotected sexual intercourse with a partner who wants to use a condom. Coercive CUR involves situations in which the woman has consented to sexual intercourse, but it is predicated on the use of a condom, thus differentiating these behaviors from those which meet the legal definition of sexual assault.…”