Reproductive Health

Did you know that intimate partner violence can directly impact a woman’s reproductive and sexual health -- increasing risk for unintended pregnancies and abortions, miscarriage and HIV/AIDS infection?

With nearly one in three women at risk for abuse in her lifetime, domestic violence is more common than preeclamplsia and hypertension -- both commonly addressed during pregnancy. Yet women are rarely asked about their experience with abuse or given information about the links between violence and their health.

Futures Without Violence, formerly Family Violence Prevention Fund, is working to transform reproductive health care and improve responses to women facing abuse through its tools and programs:

• Addressing Intimate Partner Violence, Reproductive and Sexual Coercion: A Guide for Obstetric, Gynecologic and Reproductive Health Care Settings
• ACOG Committee Opinion
• Making the Connection: Intimate Partner Violence and Public Health, an evidence-based PowerPoint training tool distills the most recent data and promising practices on the health impact of violence on maternal child health, mental health, injury prevention, children and adolescents, and more.
• Clinical and patient education tools: pregnancy wheel for providers and reproductive health & violence patient education safety cards
• Read The Facts about Reproductive Health and Violence Against Women (PDF)
• Read The Facts on Adolescent Pregnancy, Reproductive Risk and Exposure to Dating and Family Violence (PDF)
• Teach your patients about the impact violence has on their pregnancy and health: Safe Pregnancy (PDF)
• Project Connect: A Coordinated Public Health Initiative to Prevent Violence against Women
• Know More Say More is an online national campaign addressing the issue of sexual violence and implications on reproductive health.
• Research Study Addressing Reproductive Coercion: released in the January, 2011 issue of Contraception sheds light on the form of abuse in which men use coercion and birth control sabotage to cause their partners to become pregnant against their wills.
• Partner Violence Intervention Reduces Pregnancy Coercion. Study finds asking young women during family planning clinic visits if they experienced reproductive coercion dramatically reduced the odds of their male partners attempting to force them to become pregnant and 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.
• Research Study of Callers to the National Hotline on Domestic Violence Found That 25 Percent Report Birth Control Sabotage, Pregnancy Coercion.
  
• *Elearning module (Coming soon)

Go back to the chapter: Setting Specific Resources