Reproductive coercion is when someone controls whether, when or if, you fall pregnant. It is when someone forces you to continue a pregnancy you don't want, or forces you to terminate a pregnancy you did want. It can be contraceptive sabotage; it can be emotional blackmail; it can be rape.
Reproductive coercion is a form of abuse that establishes and maintains power and control by restricting a woman’s reproductive autonomy, by denying her control over decisions related to her own reproductive health and by limiting her access to reproductive health options.
Like many other forms of abuse, Reproductive Coercion covers a range of behaviours, many of which are quite subtle and, as a result, many women may not even realise they’ve been subjected to it.
Think about your boyfriend, for instance, who hates wearing condoms and sweet-talks you to let him have sex without it. Or what about if you've been victim to 'stealthing', yes, it's a real thing [see here] when your partner removed his condom without your consent or knowledge?
Or what about that guy who lied to you about having had a vasectomy, or the one who promised that he’d withdraw during unprotected sex, or the one who said he'd break up with you if you didn’t have an abortion, and so you did, even though you really wanted that baby? And then there's the guy who wanted a(nother) child but because you didn't he pierced holes in the condoms and feigned surprise when you became pregnant.
Put simply, Reproductive Coercision, being an exercise of power and control, is yet another form of Relationship Abuse.
Kathy Kaplan OAM
Reproductive coercion is a form of abuse that establishes and maintains power and control by restricting a woman’s reproductive autonomy, by denying her control over decisions related to her own reproductive health and by limiting her access to reproductive health options.
Like many other forms of abuse, Reproductive Coercion covers a range of behaviours, many of which are quite subtle and, as a result, many women may not even realise they’ve been subjected to it.
Think about your boyfriend, for instance, who hates wearing condoms and sweet-talks you to let him have sex without it. Or what about if you've been victim to 'stealthing', yes, it's a real thing [see here] when your partner removed his condom without your consent or knowledge?
Or what about that guy who lied to you about having had a vasectomy, or the one who promised that he’d withdraw during unprotected sex, or the one who said he'd break up with you if you didn’t have an abortion, and so you did, even though you really wanted that baby? And then there's the guy who wanted a(nother) child but because you didn't he pierced holes in the condoms and feigned surprise when you became pregnant.
Put simply, Reproductive Coercision, being an exercise of power and control, is yet another form of Relationship Abuse.
Kathy Kaplan OAM
