New Rochelle, NY, March 1, 2021—Women who reported behavioral reproductive coercion (RC) were more likely to be using highly effective versus moderately and low effective means of contraception. RC is a form of intimate-partner violence in which a partner tampers with or otherwise discourages contraceptive use. The study is published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Women’s Health. Click here to read the article now.

In behavioral, versus verbal, types of RC, the partner actively interferes with contraceptive use. Those women in the study who experienced the verbal only type of RC were more likely to use moderately effective contraceptive methods.

“Using highly and low effective methods may indicate two opposing ways of managing behavioral RC experiences: controlling fertility by choosing less detectable but highly effective methods or feeling disempowered and using no or low effective partner-dependent methods,” state Izidora Skracic and coauthors, University of Maryland School of Public Health.

Rates of intimate-partner violence have increased by more than 45% and potentially by as much as 75% during the COVID-19 pandemic, notes Dr. Candace Burton, University of California, Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, in an accompanying editorial. As few as 10% of providers report routinely screening their patients for IPV, and she suggests that the number is likely even lower for RC screening. Given the study findings that a woman’s choice of contraceptive method may be related to her history of RC, Dr. Burton concludes that this “might encourage providers to more often discuss RC and by extension IPV with patients. Doing so can increase opportunities to implement trauma-informed care strategies—certain to be of increasing importance given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

 

About the Journal
Journal of Women’s Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. Led by Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA, the Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women’s healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women’s Health website. Journal of Women’s Health is the official journal of the Society for Women’s Health Research.

 

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research. A complete list of the firm’s more than 90 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.