Rape-Related Pregnancy and Association With Reproductive Coercion in the U.S.

Abstract

Introduction: Rape-related pregnancy is a public health problem where sexual violence and reproductive health intersect; yet, there is a dearth of research to inform public health practice. The authors examined the prevalence and characteristics of rape-related pregnancy in U.S. women and its association with intimate partner reproductive coercion. Methods: Data years 2010–2012 are pooled from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, a telephone survey of U.S. adults. Accounting for complex survey design, in 2017, authors estimated the prevalence of vaginal rape–related pregnancy for U.S. women overall and by race/ethnicity. The authors also examined the proportion of rape-related pregnancy among victims of vaginal rape overall, by perpetrator type and by presence of reproductive coercion in the context of intimate partner rape. Results: Almost 2.9 million U.S. women (2.4%) experienced rape-related pregnancy during their lifetime. Among rape victims, 77.3% reported a current/former intimate partner perpetrator, and 26.2% of intimate partner rape victims reported rape-related pregnancy compared with those raped by an acquaintance (5.2%) or stranger (6.9%). Women raped by an intimate partner and reporting rape-related pregnancy were significantly more likely to have experienced reproductive coercion compared with women who were raped by an intimate partner but did not become pregnant. Conclusions: This paper reports the first national prevalence of rape-related pregnancy by any perpetrator in two decades. The high proportion of rape-related pregnancy committed by intimate partner perpetrators and its association with reproductive coercion suggest the need for primary prevention of intimate partner violence and access to trauma-informed reproductive health services for rape/intimate partner violence victims.

Lifetime Economic Burden of Intimate Partner Violence Among U.S. Adults

“…17 Data from a study of a convenience sample of females ( n= 148) seeking a protection order from an intimate partner reported the outcome of IPV rape-related pregnancies ( n= 32; i. e., 81% live birth, 16% abortion, 3% still born). 16 Unit costs were estimated payments for medical treatment for medically assisted abortion, 19 pregnancy and delivery, 18 and stillborn hospital birth 20 applied to the estimated number of female IPV vaginal rape victims in 2012 NISVS1, 1,16,17,46 (i.e., cost of child-rearing not included; Table 1). …”

Expanding perspectives: A social inequities lens on intimate partner violence, reproductive justice, and infant mental health

“…It is estimated that 1.2% of women are raped annually in the United States, and almost one in five women over 18 are the victims of attempted or completed rape in their lifetimes (Basile et al. ). In their examination of data from the 2010–2012 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, Basile et al also found that 2.4%—or almost 2.9 million women—experienced rape‐related pregnancy during their lifetime; among these women, over 77% have reported the perpetrator being a current or former intimate partner.…”

“…In their examination of data from the 2010–2012 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, Basile et al also found that 2.4%—or almost 2.9 million women—experienced rape‐related pregnancy during their lifetime; among these women, over 77% have reported the perpetrator being a current or former intimate partner. Of women who were vaginally raped by an intimate partner, 30% experienced reproductive coercion by that partner (either by trying to get her pregnant, stopping her from using birth control, or refusing to use a condom; Basile et al., ). This poses a particular threat to the reproductive health of girls and women, limiting their ability to make choices about pregnancies and parent their children in safe environments.…”

Protocol for a matched-pair cluster control trial of ARCHES (Addressing Reproductive Coercion in Health Settings) among women and girls seeking contraceptive services from community-based clinics in Nairobi, Kenya

“…Reproductive coercion (RC) is defined as controlling behaviors by male partners or family members to reduce women's and girls' reproductive autonomy [13] in the forms of limiting her access to or use of contraceptive methods, coercion to become pregnant against her will, and control of decisions to maintain or terminate a pregnancy [14]. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that RC is independently associated with unintended pregnancy, beyond the effects seen for IPV alone [2,11,15,16], lending support to the hypothesis that this understudied form of GBV is a mechanistic link explaining, at least in part, the consistently-demonstrated associations between IPV and poor SRH outcomes [11]. While research describing the burden of RC in LMIC contexts is still at its inception, initial studies confirm the high prevalence of RC (as perpetrated by both male partners and in-laws) and its connection to experiences of unintended pregnancy [17] an association which has been previously demonstrated in the United States [2,8,11].…”