The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released the first-ever set of national data focused on intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking victimization by sexual orientation.

According to the findings, lesbians and gay men experience higher rates of partner and sexual violence than do heterosexuals, and bisexual women have significantly higher lifetime prevalence rates of rape and sexual violence committed by any perpetrator (that could include an intimate partner, family member, acquaintance or stranger.)

The data, gathered from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, includes responses from almost 10,000 women; here’s a FAQ about the findings and methodology.

“We know that violence affects everyone, regardless of sexual orientation. This report suggests that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in this country suffer a heavy toll of sexual violence and stalking committed by an intimate partner,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a release. “While intervening and providing services are important, prevention is equally critical.”

Among the findings:

• 43.8% of lesbian women, 61.1% of bisexual women, and 35.0% of heterosexual women had experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner.
• Approximately 1 in 8 lesbians (13.1%), nearly half of bisexual women (46.1%), and 1 in 6 heterosexual women (17.4%) have been raped in their lifetime (translating to about 214,000 lesbians, 1.5 million bisexual women, and 19 million heterosexual women).
• 1 in 3 bisexual women and 1 in 6 heterosexual women (15.5%) have experienced stalking victimization at some point during their lifetime. (Numbers were too small to be reliable for lesbian women.)
• More than one-third of lesbians (36.3%), over half of bisexual women (55.1%), and more than one-quarter of heterosexual women (29.8%) have been slapped, pushed, or shoved by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime.
• 23.6% of heterosexual women, 29.4% of lesbian women, and 49.3% of bisexual women had experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner (e.g., hit with fist or something hard, slammed against something, or beaten).
• The majority of women who reported experiencing sexual violence, regardless of their sexual orientation, reported that they were victimized by male perpetrators. Most bisexual and heterosexual women (89.5% and 98.7%, respectively) reported having only male perpetrators of intimate partner violence.

Neither the full report nor the sexual orientation report provide information about intimate partner violence related to gender identity, although transgender women and men may be more likely to experience severe partner violence. The CDC notes that the Department of Health and Human Services is working on “developing standardized measures of sexual orientation and gender identity” to include in national surveys like this one in order to collect better data.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs provides some related information in its report, “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and HIV-Affected Intimate Partner Violence, 2011,” using data collected from member and affiliate programs — this limits the data, though, to LGBTQH-identified people who actually sought help from one of the programs.

It’s fairly clear, as the CDC explains, that “more research as well as ongoing data collection is needed,” and that violence against non-heterosexual, non-cisgender populations remains a major concern.

Meanwhile, House Republicans last week introduced their own version of the Violence Against Women Act without provisions for LGBT, Native American, and immigrant populations. We’re still waiting for Congress to do the right thing and pass an inclusive version.

Related: No Country for All Women: Holding Up Violence Against Women Act

On Feb. 14, One Billion Rising events will take place around the globe marking V-Day’s 15th anniversary and inviting “one billion women and those who love them to walk out, dance, rise up, and demand an end to this violence.”

Why are we rising? The numbers tell the story:

1 in 3 women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.

1 billion women violated is an atrocity.

1 billion women dancing is a revolution.

Yup, it’s a worldwide dance party, and we like the rationale:

Dancing insists we take up space. It has no set direction but we go there together. It’s dangerous, joyous, sexual, holy, disruptive. It breaks the rules. It can happen anywhere at anytime with anyone and everyone. It’s free. No corporation can control it. It joins us and pushes us to go further. It’s contagious and it spreads quickly. It’s of the body. It’s transcendent.

Check out the map and search tool to find an event near you.

Boston-based Our Bodies Ourselves staff members will be participating in an event at Lesley University, starting at 3:30 p.m. It’s free and open to the public — join us if you can!

It starts with a procession and dance performance followed by a screening of “Power and Control: Domestic Abuse in America.” As the description notes:

This is an opportunity for men and women to form an alliance in ending the violence against women in an act of solidarity and demonstrating to women around the world the commonality of their struggles and our collaborative power to take action and bring awareness through dance! Bring flashlights and glowsticks!

Want to learn the One Billion Rising “Break the Chain” dance in advance? Debbie Allen will teach you!

In light of Congress’s recent failure to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, it’s heartening to hear about the ongoing efforts of White Ribbon, a movement of men and boys working to end violence against women and girls.

Here in Boston, the Men’s Initiative Project of Jane Doe Inc., a coalition of community-based sexual assault and domestic violence groups, is gearing up for the sixth annual Massachusetts White Ribbon Day. The event will take place at the State House in Boston on March 7.

The event, which is open to all, aims to change societal attitudes and beliefs that perpetuate and make excuses for violence against women, promote safety and respect in all relationships and situations, and promote the safety, liberty and dignity of survivors.

Men can sign up online to be an Ambassador for the campaign and to participate in other ways.

OBOS Board member and MA White Ribbon Day co-chair Jarrett Barrios spoke about the campaign recently in an interview with New England Cable News’s BroadSide program. Jarrett talks about the negative media imagery about women that young boys receive, and the need for parents and others to take responsibility for actively countering those messages and work to address rather than excuse them.

Jarrett calls for people to wear the white ribbon, to talk to their sons about treating women with respect, and to not “let go” of or overlook the language that is used against women that is part of a culture of violence.

The 112th Congress ended without reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), threatening the funding of programs and services that prevent and respond to domestic violence, rape, stalking, and other forms of violence against women. It’s the first time Congress has failed to reauthorize VAWA since it was signed into law in 1994.

The failure is due to objections by House Republicans over new provisions adding protections for LGBTQ individuals, Native American women on tribal lands, and undocumented immigrants — protections that are considered “controversial,” according to Florida Republican Rep. Sandy Adams.

Those provisions are included in the Senate version, which passed with bipartisan support in April. The House passed its own version, stripping those provisions and making other changes that the administration has refused to approve.

The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women addresses objections to the LGBTQ and Tribal provisions with a smart analysis of myth vs. fact. The organization also provides a good outline of many of the problems with the House version and its possible effects on vulnerable communities, and it asks the 113th Congress to reauthorize VAWA immediately.

Please encourage your senators and representatives to pass an inclusive version of VAWA. You can also contact House Speaker John Boehner’s office (202-225-0600 or 202-225-6205) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office (202-225-2815 or 202-225-4000).

Here’s further commentary and analysis, on both the bills and the failed reauthorization. Feel free to suggest other commentary or news items in the comments.

• We live in a culture of violence, and it needs to stop. — Adrienne K., Native Appropriations
• Congress Fails to Reauthorize Violence Against Women Act — National Center for Lesbian Rights
• House bill takes VAWA name, leaves Latinas behind – National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
• Blocking VAWA, The GOP Keeps Up the War on Women — Erika Eichelberger, The Nation
• GOP House’s inaction on VAWA shows bigotry — Ilyse Hogue, CNN
• Racism and Sexism Go Hand in Hand in Opposition to VAWA Reauthorization — Scot, Changelab
• No real answers on ‘death’ of Violence Against Women Act — Jamil Smith, Melissa Harris-Perry show; Jamil also had a great analysis back in December, Why does the Violence Against Women Act remain stalled?
• House GOP lets the Violence Against Women Act expire for first time since 1994 – Zerlina, Feministing
• In Last Salvo on War On Women for 2012 Legislative Session, Congress Refuses to Renew VAWA – Robin Marty, RH Reality Check
• Everything You Need to Know About The GOP’s Opposition To Protecting Native American Women From Abuse — Erik Stegman, ThinkProgress
• Violence Against Women Act Debacle: Why Congress Should Be More Diverse – Tara Culp-Ressler, The Atlantic
• Why the Violence Against Women Act is a LGBT issue – Suzy Khimm, Wonkblog

[Note: this post and the linked materials contain graphic discussion of sexual abuse, rape, and prison genital searches.]

A Michigan women’s prison that was practicing a particularly degrading type of visual body cavity search on prisoners has agreed to stop the searches.

Earlier this month, the ACLU sent a letter to the Michigan Department of Corrections demanding that they end the practice of performing spread-labia vaginal searches at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility.  During such searches, women were required to sit on a chair or table and spread their own labia for inspection by prison guards. The women were sometimes forced to undergo such inspection in view of other prisoners, and if they objected, could “be forced to submit through physical force or punished with solitary confinement.”

Our Bodies Ourselves signed on to the ACLU’s letter objecting to these practices, along with several other organizations.

Despite the invasiveness of the inspections, no apparent attention was given to hygiene or to the women’s health. From the letter:

In addition, measures to assure sanitation during these invasive searches are often incomplete or ignored entirely, resulting in women being exposed to the menstrual blood or other bodily fluids of other prisoners when they sit on the chair, including those suffering from serious communicable conditions such as HIV and hepatitis. A disposable liner for use on the chair is rarely if ever provided, and women are seldom permitted to sanitize the chair or wash their hands after the search. At least one woman has suffered a vaginal infection which she believes was contracted during a spread-labia vaginal search.

These searches were not just performed on women newly entering the facility or on those suspected of hiding contraband – they occurred every time the women had visitors, even legal representation or religious workers, and after prison work shifts or receipt of medical care. No considerations were apparently made regarding the actual seriousness of the threat if there was suspected contraband, or for individual women’s physical or psychological needs. For example:

On one occasion, four kitchen workers were subjected to spread-labia vaginal searches in full view of one another because a guard believed that some chicken might have been stolen from the kitchen. No exceptions are made for women who are menstruating, pregnant, ill, or have been sexually abused, whether prior to or during their incarceration.

The ACLU received letters from more than 60 prisoners about these searches; some of their stories have been shared online. Here and elsewhere, women have described not wanting to receive any visitors (because of the search afterward); the discomfort of being forced to touch their own genitals in front of others or of having their PTSD triggered; and feeling that they are being raped when subjected to these exams.

The Michigan Department of Corrections said it had ended the practice in December, while the ACLU said it continued to get complaints about it more recently. Last week, the ACLU confirmed that the practice has now been stopped.

Such spread-labia searches are apparently *not* the norm in prisons nationwide. Even a spokesperson for the state prison stated (emphasis added):

“Corrections officers didn’t think it was necessary, prisoners felt it was an irritant, the prison psychiatric staff thought it was a stressor and, in nearly two years, it didn’t find any contraband.”

This type of search will now only be conducted when there is suspected smuggled contraband, although it is not clear how well that standard will be enforced.

An editorial at the Detroit Free Press called the practice “demeaning and unnecessary,” and notes that follow-up is needed to ensure compliance with the halt:

Warden Warren deserves credit for taking the initiative to investigate the policy and end it, at least officially. But given the department’s history of sexual abuse, Corrections must now take additional measures to ensure the new policy is followed, as well as review its polices on strip searches in general to determine if they are necessary and conducted in the least degrading manner possible.

Kudos to the women who wrote letters to the ACLU and to the ACLU for bringing this invasive, unnecessary, and traumatizing practice to light.

Since 1994, when the Violence Against Women Act was first signed into law, support for this law to combat domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking has usually been a bipartisan issue. Not so in 2012, when not a single Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of a re-authorization last month.

At issue are provisions that call for protections for LGBT individuals, expand the availability of visas for undocumented immigrants who are victims of domestic abuse, and provide limited jurisdiction to Native American tribes to prosecute Indian and non-Indian offenders.

As we wait for Congress’s next steps on VAWA, it’s worth noting the work being done at the state level in Massachusetts. This week, Jane Doe Inc., held its fifth annual White Ribbon Day, a men’s initiative that pledges to be part of the solution in ending violence against women.

As the website for White Ribbon Day notes:

We’re taking our cue from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that speaks to how violence against women is a human rights violation and how these abuses around the world are obstacles to efforts for peace and gender equality in all societies.

In addition, we link importantly with The United Nations Secretary General’s new campaign UNited to End Violence Against Women, which is celebrated on International Women’s Day, March 8th.

More than 300 people attended the White Ribbon Day event on March 1 at the State House. Phallacies, a UMass Amherst student group that challenges notions of masculinity and works to end violence against women, took part.

“I always felt like I was forced to act a certain way, even if that was against the way I actually felt,” said UMass Amherst sophomore Chris Lowe. “Like why do I have to treat women [negatively] to be accepted by society?”

“My father, so he was abusive to my mother,” Lowe added. “But the lesson is to break out of the social roles that we’re put in as men.”

UMass “Phallacies” men against violence: wwlp.com

by Meg Young

Everyone can agree that rape is not a joke, right? Apparently not, based on the popularity of the blog Barstool Sports.

At first glance, the blog appears to be a collection of comedic sports commentaries interspersed with predictable photos of scantily clad women, or “smokeshows,” to use the vernacular. However, this archive of good, clean misogynistic fun has a darker side. Many of the postings make jokes about rape and sexual assault, such as this commentary about the acquittal of a man accused of raping a woman wearing tight jeans: “[E]ven though I never condone rape if you’re a size 6 and you’re wearing skinny jeans you kind of deserve to be raped right?”

Now, Barstool is hosting the “Barstool Blackout Tour,” a series of sponsored dance parties on or near college campuses across the country. Think that sounds a little dicey? Women shouldn’t worry, according to the blog: “Just to make friends with the feminists I’d like to reiterate that we don’t condone rape of any kind at our Blackout Parties in mid January. However if a chick passes out that’s a grey area though.”

Your humble blogger is not the only one shaking with indignation. When Barstool scheduled the Northeastern University Blackout Party at the House of Blues in Boston, a group of Northeastern students called Knock Out Barstool began to rally students in the Boston area to boycott and protest the event scheduled for this Thursday, Feb. 2.

In an letter published in Northeastern’s Huntington News, students and members of Knock Out Barstool wrote, “We demand Northeastern University and its administration stand for women and denounce Barstool Sports and the NU Blackout Party. These organizations do not represent the values of our community nor our institution.”

Much to their (and my) dismay, Northeastern University has not come out directly against the parties, other than to tweet it doesn’t officially endorse them.

Visit Knock Out Barstool’s website, and if you’re in the Boston area, stand in solidarity with Northeastern students protesting this event outside the House of Blues in Boston at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Meg Young is a sophomore at Tufts University, where she studies anthropology and community health. She became interested in women’s reproductive health during her time as an intern at Our Bodies Ourselves in 2009.

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it is adopting the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations for preventive care services for women. This will ensure that women have access to the following services under health insurance plans without having to pay a co-payment, co-insurance or deductible:

• well-woman visits
• screening for gestational diabetes
• HPV testing
• STI counseling
• HIV screening and counseling
• contraception methods and counseling
• breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling
• screening and counseling for domestic and interpersonal violence

Coverage for these services is expected to begin Aug. 1, 2012.

There is one caveat for some women regarding access to contraception without a co-pay — a provision that “Group health plans sponsored by certain religious employers, and group health insurance coverage in connection with such plans, are exempt from the requirement to cover contraceptive services.”

An announcement at the HealthCare.gov site indicates that public comment is welcome on this provision. Although I haven’t yet been able to locate it on Regulations.gov, instructions for comment and more detail about the exemption is provided in this document.

Last week, we highlighted the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation that birth control be covered without co-pays as a preventive service under health care reform.

Several other aspects of women’s health were also covered by the Institute’s recommendations, including “screening and counseling for interpersonal and domestic violence.” While the birth control prevention got a lot of attention online, we’ve seen less discussion of this and other recommendations, so thought we’d highlight it.

An email we received from Futures Without Violence called it a “historic victory,” and explained, “This is not a requirement for screening for domestic violence. It does however, break down significant barriers to integrating comprehensive responses to domestic violence and we believe it will create new opportunities to train providers how to identify and help patients in abusive relationships.”

Seen any good discussion of this violence screening/counseling recommendation? Let us know in the comments.

As a reminder, you can view the Institute’s press release, recommendations, report brief, and full report, “Clinical Preventive Services for Women: Closing the Gap,” online. The Department of Health and Human Services will still need to adopt this list of recommendations for the care to be covered under the Affordable Care Act.

Somewhat relatedly, the Department of Health and Human Services (which will decide whether to accept the Institute’s recommendations), is holding an “Apps Against Abuse” challenge, inviting people to develop applications that “provide young adults with tools to help prevent sexual assault and dating violence.” More information on entering the challenge is available here.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the formation of the Violence Against Women Federal and Tribal Prosecution Task Force to address the staggering rates of violence against American Indian women. The Justice Department estimates that 1 in 3 American Indian women will be raped in her lifetime, and most victims who do report their assaults describe their attackers as non-Native.

The task force is composed of six assistant U.S. Attorneys and six tribal attorneys, along with other DOJ, health care and law enforcement officials. Within a year of convening, the task force is expected to:

[...] produce a trial practice manual on the federal prosecution of violence against women offenses in Indian Country. In the short term, the Task Force will explore current issues raised by professionals in the field, and recommend “best practices” in prosecution strategies involving domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

While this issue certainly deserves attention, I can’t help but be cautious about a Justice Department-led approach. The U.S. government doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to violence and Native Americans. Part of the problem stems from issues of jurisdiction. In 2007, Amnesty International released a report (more here) that outlined the various barriers to justice that these women face, noting: “The United States government has created a complex maze of tribal, state and federal jurisdictions that often allows perpetrators to rape with impunity — and in some cases effectively creates jurisdictional vacuums that encourage assaults.”

INCITE! provides this toolkit, Police Violence Against Native Women and Native Trans & Two Spirit People, which outlines history and current problems of law enforcement and military violence against American Indian women. As the organization makes clear, decreasing and preventing violence against American Indian women is not simply a matter of increasing law enforcement:

Native women and Native Two Spirit, transgender, and gender nonconforming people are subjected to gender-specific forms of law enforcement violence, such as racial profiling, physical abuse, sexual harassment and abuse, and failure to respond or abusive responses to reports of violence.

We hope the DOJ effort will represent, as one task force member suggested, “the Obama administration’s willingness to take seriously the crimes of rape and domestic violence against Native American women,” and that genuine safety improvements for American Indian women take place.

This issue has been in the Canadian news recently as well. According to the Abbostford News, a British Columbia newspaper, “The Native Women’s Association of Canada reports that 582 indigenous women and girls have disappeared or were murdered over the last five years.” The Canadian government has recently provided $2 million to the NWAC for an initiative to “help communities understand, prevent and respond to violence against aboriginal women and girls.”

See resources linked from our previous posts for additional background reading on this topic.

A new study in the journal Contraception reveals the power of a simple conversation: When trained counselors at family planning clinics ask young women if they have experienced reproductive coercion, it reduces the odds of their male partners forcing them to become pregnant.

Reproductive coercion refers to abusive male behaviors to promote pregnancy, including “birth control sabotage” (interference with contraception) and/or “pregnancy coercion,” such as threatening to harm a woman if she uses birth control or if she has an abortion, and threating to leave her if she doesn’t get pregnant.

The Family Violence Prevention Fund responded enthusiastically to the results of the study:

A brief intervention was associated with a 70 percent reduction in the odds of male partner pregnancy coercion among women who recently had experienced intimate partner violence. Study participants who were asked about reproductive coercion and then counseled about harm-reduction strategies — including switching to longer-acting contraceptives and contacting domestic and sexual-assault resources — were also 60 percent more likely to report ending a relationship because it felt unsafe or unhealthy.

“There is a strong, indisputable link between domestic and dating violence and unintended pregnancy. This study is extremely important because it identifies an effective solution that can be implemented relatively easily,” said Family Violence Prevention Fund President and Founder Esta Soler. “We need to build on these results by making this intervention the norm in health care settings throughout the nation as quickly as possible.”

The study was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; the intervention was designed by reproductive health experts, UC Davis School of Medicine, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the FVPF.

An earlier study this year, also published in Contraception, concluded that 20 percent of women experienced pregnancy coercion and 15 percent experienced birth control sabotage.

The FVPF is calling for immediate action based on this latest evidence: “This study is extremely important because it identifies an effective solution that can be implemented relatively easily,” said Soler. “We need to build on these results by making this intervention the norm in health care settings throughout the nation as quickly as possible.”

Go to FVPF’s Know More Say More website for more information and opportunities for action. The site includes resources for healthcare providers, including suggestions on how to assess for reproductive coercion [PDF], including sample scripts, and how to integrate assessments into clinical practice [PDF].

View all Women’s Health Heroes. Voting closes May 14. Background info here.

Entrant: Deborah Schutz
Nominee: Maggie Ginsberg Schutz, freelance writer and creater of Violence UnSilenced

Violence UnSilenced was created by Maggie Ginsberg Schutz in February 2009, to shed light within the blogging community on domestic violence and sexual abuse/assault by giving survivors a voice. From the mission statement:

One of the last hurdles to eradicating abuse is the culture of silence and shame that exists yet today. You very likely have people in your life that are being abused, you just don’t realize it. Victims are led to believe they are alone, that no one will believe them, and that people will think less of them. Heavy societal pressure generally falls on the victim (ie, “Why doesn’t she leave?”) instead of on the person committing the crime (ie, “Why doesn’t he?”)

Every situation is complicated and unique, and there is no stereotype. Every single survivor of abuse is different from his or her comrades, and by sharing stories here we can educate ourselves as to just how pervasive domestic violence and sexual abuse/assault is, and how it crosses all cultural, racial, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic lines. This is our society’s collective issue, not simply a problem of those directly impacted. There are 70 million blogs out there, and one in four women will experience abuse in her lifetime. We who are active in the blogosphere have a responsibility to listen to our friends and to spread the word, so that we can strip abusers of this critical power. I also believe very, very strongly in the cathartic power of writing.

The video below was created in honor of the project’s 1-year anniversary.

View all Women’s Health Heroes. Voting closes May 14. Background info here.

Entrant: Meghan Ward
Nominee: Rachel Lloyd, Founder and Executive Director of GEMS

It is with profound admiration and respect that I nominate Rachel Lloyd as a women’s health hero for the 2010 Our Bodies Ourselves Women’s Health Hero awards. Rachel Lloyd is the founder and executive director of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services in New York City, also known as GEMS. GEMS helps girls and young women escape lives of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking.

GEMS provides counseling, shelter, educational services and many other services needed for victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the United States. In addition to helping young girls and women escape lives of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking, one of GEMS primary goals is to educate the public about the current attitudes and beliefs which treat victims of sexual exploitation as criminals.

Treating victims of child sexual exploitation as criminals is one of the worst possible things one can do. It does not help eradicate commercial sex trafficking. In fact, it does far more harm than good to those victimized by men who buy and sell young girls. Rachel Lloyd works tirelessly to change such absurd views, speaking out against these laws and sentences in the United States. Read the rest of this entry »

Publicado por Rachel / del orginial en inglés Jan 28, 2010

OBOS is committed to expanding our audience and in this spirit we’ve asked former board member Moises Russo to translate into Spanish several of our blog entries. We hope to translate more entries in the coming year.

En OBOS estamos comprometidos a expandir nuestra audiencia de lector@s  y en este espíritu le hemos solicitado a Moisés Russo, ex-miembro de la Junta de OBOS, que traduzca al español varios de los blogs que tenemos en la página electrónica. Esperamos continuar con dichas traducciones durante este año.

Un artículo en la revista Contraception,“Coerción al embarazo, violencia por parte de parejas y embarazo no planificado”, examina si las mujeres jóvenes y adolescentes han sido víctimas de sabotaje de sus métodos anticonceptivos, coacción a embarazarse o violencia física o sexual.

Investigadores de la Universidad de California Davis han llevado a cabo una encuesta de 1278 mujeres entre los 16 y 29 años que buscaron servicios en cinco clínicas de planificación familiar durante los años 2008 – 2009. Las mujeres participantes fueron hispanas (30%), afroamericanas (28%), blancas (22%), multirraciales (7%) y asiáticas u otras razas (13%). Coacción al embarazo fue definido como haber recibido comentarios de sus parejas a no usar métodos de control de la fertilidad, ser amenazadas con daño físico si no estaban dispuestas a quedar embarazadas, ser forzada o presionada a embarazarse, haber tenido que esconder métodos de control de la fertilidad por miedo a que su pareja pudiese enojarse, o haber sido amenazadas con que su pareja tendría un bebé con otra persona o a dejarlas si no se embarazaban.

Sabotaje de sus métodos anticonceptivos fue definido como haber tenido una pareja que se quitase el condón mientras tenían relaciones sexuales, que hubiese hecho agujeros en el condón en forma intencional, las hubiese despojado de su método anticonceptivo o las hubiese forzado a tener sexo sin un condón.

Las participantes también fueron entrevistadas con respecto a su historia personal con respecto a violencia sexual o física y antecedentes de embarazos previos no planificados.

Los hallazgos principales del estudio fueron:

• 53,4% declararon haber experimentado violencia por parte de sus parejas
• 40,9% habían experimentado al menos un embarazo no planificado
• 19,1% habían sido coaccionadas a tener un embarazo
• 15,0% habían experimentado sabotaje de sus métodos anticonceptivos

Los autores también reportaron que mujeres que habían experimentado violencia por parte de sus  parejas en el pasado también era más propensas a haber experimentado coacción a embarazarse o sabotaje de sus métodos anticonceptivos (35% de aquellas que indicaban haber sido víctimas de violencia comparado a 15% de aquellas que indicaban no haber sido víctimas de violencia). Las mujeres que habían experimentado control reproductivo (coacción o sabotaje) también eran más propensas a haber tenido un embarazo no planificado. Al analizar los datos en base a la exposición a violencia por parte de sus parejas, el control reproductivo estaba asociado con embarazo no planificado solo en aquellas mujeres que habían tenido exposición a violencia por parte de sus parejas.

A pesar de que los autores analizaron las exposiciones históricas de las mujeres y por lo tanto no podían examinar asociaciones con relaciones específicas o el orden de estos eventos en el tiempo, uno de los autores del estudio sugirió que las asociaciones podrían explicar por qué los embarazos no planificados son tanto más comunes entre las mujeres abusadas y quinceañeras.

Los investigadores concluyen que:

Un programa integral de detección en  centros clínicos que busque las experiencias prevalentes de coacción al embarazo, sabotaje de métodos anticonceptivos y violencia por parte de la pareja debiese ser considerado una prioridad, particularmente en el contexto de planificación familiar y otros esfuerzos programáticos para reducir el embarazo no planificado. Tal detección podría facilitar el trabajo crítico de resolver las barreras de acceso a la anticoncepción entre mujeres y niñas para reducir su elevado riesgo de embarazo no planificado.

El autor principal del estudio fue también uno de los investigadores en un estudio más pequeño sobre violencia en la pareja y sabotaje de métodos anticonceptivos que nosotros reportamos en el 2007.

A forthcoming article in the journal Contraception, “Pregnancy coercion, intimate partner violence and unintended pregnancy,” looks at whether adolescent and young women have experienced birth control sabotage, pregnancy coercion, and/or physical or sexual violence.

Researchers from UC Davis conducted a survey of 1,278 16-29 year old women seeking care in five California family planning clinics in 2008-2009. The participating women were Hispanic (30%), Black (28%), White (22%), Multiracial (7%) and “Asian/other” (13%). Pregnancy coercion was defined as being told not to use birth control by a partner, threatened with physical harm if they did not agree to get pregnant, being forced or pressured to become pregnant, having hidden birth control because of fear that the partner would become upset, or being told that the partner would have a baby with someone else or leave if they did not become pregnant.

Birth control sabotage was defined as having a partner take off a condom while having sex, put holes in a condom on purpose, take away birth control, or forced sex without a condom.

Participants were also asked about their lifetime histories of physical and sexual violence and history of unintended pregnancy.

The key findings:

• 53.4% reported having experienced partner violence
• 40.9% had experienced at least one unintended pregnancy
• 19.1% had experienced pregnancy coercion
• 15.0% had experienced birth control sabotage

The authors also reported that women who had experienced partner violence in the past were also more likely to have experienced pregnancy coercion or birth control sabotage (35% of those reporting violence compared to 15% of those not reporting violence). Women who had experienced reproductive control (coercion or sabotage) were also more likely to have experienced an unplanned pregnancy. When looking at the data by exposure to partner violence, reproductive control was associated with unintended pregnancy only among those who were exposed to partner violence.

Although the authors looked at lifetime exposures and so could not look at associations within specific relationships or the order of these events in time, one co-author of the study suggested that the associations may “explain why unintended pregnancies are far more common among abused women and teens.”

The researchers conclude that:

Comprehensive screening in clinical settings for the prevalent experiences of pregnancy coercion, birth control sabotage and partner violence should be considered a priority, particularly in the context of family planning and related programmatic efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy. Such screening may facilitate the critical work of addressing barriers to contraception among affected women and girls so as to reduce their elevated risk for unintended pregnancy.

The lead author of the study was also one of the researchers for a smaller study of intimate partner violence and birth control sabotage that we reported on in 2007.

[Note: Although I was able to get a copy of the article, it is not yet readily available online. I'll try to add a link if an abstract/full text becomes available.]