InterpersonalABUSE TACTIC

Reproductive Coercion

What it is

Behavior by a partner that controls a person's reproductive choices — pressure or threats to become pregnant or to end or continue a pregnancy, sabotage of contraception, and non-consensual condom removal — recognized since Miller and colleagues' 2010 study as a distinct form of intimate-partner abuse.

How it works

Miller and colleagues named the pattern in a 2010 study of young women at family-planning clinics: roughly one in five reported pregnancy coercion, about 15 percent reported birth-control sabotage, and both were strongly associated with other partner violence and with unintended pregnancy. The mechanism is control over the future. A pregnancy binds the partner to the abuser for decades; it increases financial dependence, restricts mobility and work, and raises the cost of leaving (see exit-cost-escalation). The coercion takes several forms: verbal pressure and threats about pregnancy; sabotage — hiding or destroying pills, removing or damaging condoms, interfering with appointments; and control of the outcome, forcing a pregnancy to continue or to end. Non-consensual condom removal, which Brodsky's 2017 legal analysis brought into public view as “stealthing,” sits inside the pattern. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued a committee opinion in 2013 recommending routine screening, because victims rarely name the behavior themselves; they present as repeat unintended pregnancies or repeat requests for emergency contraception. The recognition signals are a partner who monitors or controls contraception, who treats contraceptive use as betrayal, and pregnancies that arrive on the partner's schedule rather than yours.

Real-world examples

  • •Miller et al. (2010): among young women attending family-planning clinics in Northern California, pregnancy coercion and birth-control sabotage were common and were associated with substantially higher odds of unintended pregnancy, particularly where partner violence was also present.
  • •Brodsky (2017) documented non-consensual condom removal and argued for a legal response; in 2021 California created a civil cause of action for it, the first US state to do so.
  • •ACOG Committee Opinion 554 (2013) describes reproductive and sexual coercion for clinicians and recommends screening, noting that repeat unintended pregnancy and repeated emergency-contraception requests are the presenting signs.
  • •In coercive-control cases described by Stark (2007), pregnancy was used to end a partner's education or employment, and threats about custody then kept her from leaving — reproduction as an exit cost.

Ethical guidelines

  • ●This technique is inherently unethical and psychologically harmful. Never use it in any context. If you recognize yourself doing this, seek professional help.
  • ●Decisions about pregnancy belong to the person whose body is involved; a partner's wishes are legitimately expressed as wishes, never as sabotage, threats, or deception.
  • ●Removing a condom without consent turns consensual sex into non-consensual sex; several jurisdictions now treat it as assault or as a civil wrong.
  • ●Clinicians who see repeat unintended pregnancy or repeat emergency-contraception requests should ask about coercion privately; the patient will rarely raise it unprompted.

How to defend against it

  • ►Name the behavior to yourself: pressure, sabotage, or deception around contraception or pregnancy is abuse, not a disagreement about family planning, and it predicts other abuse.
  • ►Talk to a clinician alone. Family-planning clinics screen for coercion and can discuss contraceptive options that do not depend on a partner's cooperation or knowledge; ask for the conversation without your partner present, which clinics will arrange as a matter of routine.
  • ►Contact a domestic-violence advocate (US: 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, thehotline.org; for young people, loveisrespect.org, 1-866-331-9474; other countries: the NO MORE Global Directory, nomoredirectory.org). Reproductive coercion is on their screening lists and usually travels with other control, so they will help you assess danger and plan. Do not confront the partner about the sabotage without that plan; confrontation can escalate risk.
  • ►Where the coercion concerns a pregnancy already begun, the decision remains yours in law in most places; a clinician or advocate can connect you with legal help if a partner is using threats, immigration status, or money to force an outcome.
  • ►Keep any evidence — damaged contraception, messages, threats — somewhere the partner cannot access. If you are in immediate danger, your safety comes before documentation.

From the Defense Playbook

Safety Planning Firsttakes practice

If you are afraid of a partner, ex-partner, or family member, plan for safety with a trained domestic-violence advocate before you confront, disclose, change your routines, or leave, because those are the moments when the risk of serious harm is highest.

Every playbook entry states how strong its evidence is and when not to use it. Browse the full playbook.

References

  1. Miller, E., Decker, M. R., McCauley, H. L., Tancredi, D. J., Levenson, R. R., Waldman, J., Schoenwald, P., & Silverman, J. G. (2010). Pregnancy Coercion, Intimate Partner Violence and Unintended Pregnancy. Contraception, 81(4), 316-322
    The naming of reproductive coercion, its prevalence among clinic attendees (approximately one in five for pregnancy coercion), and its association with partner violence and unintended pregnancy.
  2. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2013). Committee Opinion No. 554: Reproductive and Sexual Coercion. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 121(2), 411-415
    Clinical description of the behaviors, presenting signs, and the recommendation to screen.
  3. Brodsky, A. (2017). “Rape-Adjacent”: Imagining Legal Responses to Nonconsensual Condom Removal. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, 32(2)
    Documentation of non-consensual condom removal and the case for legal remedies.
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