For countless women in non-supportive and/or abusive relationships, no-copay birth control may not be enough.
A new pilot study by researchers at the University of California-Davis School of Medicine finds that a simple intervention–asking women visiting family planning clinics about sexual violence and coercion–can dramatically reduce the incidence of a form of intimate-partner violence known as reproductive coercion.
Sexual violence and coercion by intimate partners plays a critical role in unintended pregnancy, the spread of sexually transmitted infections, poor maternal outcomes and in abortion. The problems of violence, control, and contraceptive sabotage are so widespread that public-health advocates see teen pregnancy as a “canary in a coal mine” or one indicator of possible abuse.
