Version 1
: Received: 5 November 2023 / Approved: 6 November 2023 / Online: 6 November 2023 (07:36:38 CET)
How to cite:
Tarzia, L.; McKenzie, M. Reproductive Coercion and Abuse in Intimate Relationships: Understanding Perpetrator Motivations and Overlaps with Coercive Control. Preprints2023, 2023110291. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0291.v1
Tarzia, L.; McKenzie, M. Reproductive Coercion and Abuse in Intimate Relationships: Understanding Perpetrator Motivations and Overlaps with Coercive Control. Preprints 2023, 2023110291. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0291.v1
Tarzia, L.; McKenzie, M. Reproductive Coercion and Abuse in Intimate Relationships: Understanding Perpetrator Motivations and Overlaps with Coercive Control. Preprints2023, 2023110291. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0291.v1
APA Style
Tarzia, L., & McKenzie, M. (2023). Reproductive Coercion and Abuse in Intimate Relationships: Understanding Perpetrator Motivations and Overlaps with Coercive Control. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0291.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Tarzia, L. and Mandy McKenzie. 2023 "Reproductive Coercion and Abuse in Intimate Relationships: Understanding Perpetrator Motivations and Overlaps with Coercive Control" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0291.v1
Abstract
Reproductive coercion and abuse is a hidden and poorly recognised form of violence against women. It refers broadly to behaviours that interfere with or undermine a person’s reproductive autonomy, specifically to promote or prevent pregnancy. Reproductive coercion and abuse can involve physical, sexual, financial or psychological abuse in order to achieve these aims, and is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men against women. As an emerging field of scholarship, conceptual understanding of reproductive coercion and abuse is still in its infancy; however, it is often described as being linked to coercive control. In this article, we seek to highlight the complexity of this relationship through qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 30 victim/survivors in Australia recruited from the community, focusing on their perceptions of the perpetrator’s motivations. Our analysis suggests that perpetrator motivations can range from entitlement and self-interest to a deep desire for domination and entrapment. Pregnancy preventing behaviour was more likely to be linked with entitlement and self-interest, whereas pregnancy promoting behaviour tended to be described by participants in relationships where there was a broader pattern of ongoing control and entrapment. Thus, we suggest that coercive control is a motivating factor for some, but not all men who perpetrate reproductive coercion and abuse. A greater understanding perpetrator motivations may be important for practitioners, particularly those working in sexual and reproductive health services, since it could be relevant to women’s level of risk for coercive controlling behaviour or more extreme forms of physical or sexual violence.
Keywords
reproductive coercion; intimate partner violence; sexual violence; women
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Other
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
