The term reproductive coercion (RC) describes behaviors that assert control over an intimate partner’s reproductive autonomy (policy). This can include tampering with contraceptives to cause pregnancy (e.g, poking holes in condoms, destroying hormonal contraceptives, dislodging IUDs), or using physical or psychological means to coerce a female partner into becoming pregnant or terminating a pregnancy (policy). Although there are many studies classifying RC as intimate partner violence (milller et al), it is not recognized under the domestic violence laws in the United States (georgetown). Because RC is rarely brought into court, the perpetrators of the coercion avoid any legal repercussions, their partners continue to be victimized (citation …show more content…
Although coercing a woman into or out of pregnancy seems just as egregious as sexual or psychological abuse, it remains absent from the list. This may be attributed to the fact that in the United States, the law sees all consent as “generalized consent (harvard law review)” and when it comes to birth control sabotage, the sex between a woman and her partner is often consensual because she believes that their contraceptives are fully functional (george town). In other words, anytime a woman willingly has sex with a man, she is fully responsible for her own pregnancy. When examining the other subtypes of domestic abuse with this paradigm, domestic abuse would cease to be a legal issue because women would ultimately be at fault for staying in relationships with people when they knew that the consequences involved mistreatment. In order to validate reproductive abuse as domestic abuse and turn it into a punishable offense, the definition of consent has to be altered. Because RC is strongly linked to intimate partner violence, it is widely considered to be a symptomatic behavior (policy). Men who admit to committing intimate partner violence are three times more likely to commit RC than men who do not (policy). This statistic alone should be persuasive enough for
It has been reported that Jamie has ‘committed more than one act of intimate partner violence’ which suggests a lack of control. Jamie denied responsibility for these aggressive acts and stated ‘she can be a total cow when she wants to be’. Weldon & Gilchrist (2012) found that offenders believe partners provoke violent responses which can be highlighted in Jamie’s case as he reported ‘she should know when to shut up’. Although there is evidence of the lack of ability to control aggression, there is insufficient evidence regarding the level of aggression and minimal violence was reported from the sexual
Stark (2006) would suggest that thirty years of research has failed to produce a consensus as to what constitutes a case of domestic violence considering that 90% of women who report the abuse have no physical injuries. Methods of coercive control do not meet the criminological viewpoint rather, control extends to financial, emotional, and psychological aspects of subjugating the partner thus no physical violence occurs. If only violent means are reported, then the reported number of victims would perhaps change thus creating a more gender symmetrical pattern. Until operational definitions are defined throughout the disciplines with consistency then there will continue to be discrepancies and opposing views. However, integrative theories of feminist views are being explored which investigate the intersection of not only male dominance as a form of oppression but the use of race, class, national origin, age, sexual orientation, and disability and their impact on intimate partner violence as stated by McPhail and colleagues
Gender-based violence has been recognized as a large public health problem as well as a violation of human rights worldwide. One out of three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in another way at least once in her life (www.infoforhealth.org). The abuser is usually a member of the family, introducing the difficult problem in that the abuse usually happens behind closed doors, and is often viewed by cultural norms and legal systems as a family matter rather than a crime.
Stover, C. S., Meadows, A. L., & Kaufman, J. (2009). Interventions for intimate partner violence: Review and implications for evidence-based practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40(3), 223-233.
The hypothesis for this research will be 'Have the new stricter policies on domestic violence among intimate partners led to a decrease in repeat offenders? '
Smith, P. H., Thornton, G. E., DeVellis, R., Earp, J., & Coker, A. L. (2002). A population-based study of the prevalence and distinctiveness of battering, physical assault, and sexual assault in intimate relationships. Violence Against Women, 8, 1208-1232.
There is also the argument that women who are raped or victims of incest should be forced to carry a child to full term and then give the child up for adoption. Statistics say that 1 in 3 women will be victims of rape or a sexually violent act but does this mean that 33% of women also should be forced to carry their violators child to term? It doesn’t seem fair that a woman loses her feelings of safety and loses her choice to say no and then also has to go through an unwanted pregnancy on top of it.(amplify, 2009)
There are many limitations valued when it comes to the right of abortion. The news media still outlines the pros and cons of anti-abortion rights in certain-states-to soon, the entire country. My perspectives on the issue of abortion have been entitled from it to never be banned among citizen’s rights. The reproduction of pregnancy has been emphasized heavily on a mother’s decision to abort their child, but the father of the child plays an active role since he considers to that particular title. Through this current issue, majority of the people against abortion do not seem to have an open mind to how much it primarily affects the decision of the mother amongst her own views of considering abortion.
More than one in three women in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2012). Thirty to sixty percent of perpetrators tend to also abuse children in the household (Edelson, 1999). Witnessing violence between parents or caretakers is considered the strongest risk factor for transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next (Break the Cycle, 2006). State legislatures are increasingly passing statues that encourage participants in the Criminal Justice System to attack the issue of domestic violence more aggressively. Some states still fail to realize that IPV involving a woman that is pregnant should be considered a felony because it affects the well-being of the unborn child.
Roe v. Wade decriminalized abortion with a landmark court ruling in 1973, yet abortion remains one of the most controversial debates due to the myriad of political and moral issues. Somehow, woman still face many of the issues that the roe v wade ruling was supposed to prevent. Carrying an unintended pregnancy to term can be very problematic to a woman’s mental and physical well-being whether it was a rape or not. The magnitude of damage an unwanted pregnancy can be catastrophic to the child as well. Extreme cases, newborns are killed because a woman could not afford an abortion. Most Americans agree that abortion is okay under dire circumstances like rape. There are countless other circumstances in which a pregnancy can be devastating to a woman, but rape is singled out as socially acceptable because on the surface, it appears to be a definitive, black and white reason. Finding a middle ground that allows woman to decide for themselves what constitutes a dire circumstance might be a more realistic and compassionate choice. The option to have tax-funded, safe, legal abortions is choosing to improve the quality of lives that already exist and is a realistic approach to an emotional issue.
Thomson recognizes that this thought experiment has a very limited application – specifically to those instances where a pregnancy is the result of coercion or violence. In the sec...
Sexual coercion is “The use of non-physical, controlling, degrading, and manipulative tactics to obtain, or attempt to obtain, unwanted oral, vaginal, or anal intercourse, including forced penetration and sex with objects.” (Bagwell-Gray, Messing, & Baldwin-White, 2015, p.323). It is distinct from intimate partner sexual assault in that unwanted sex is obtained through manipulative tactics and emotional and mental control rather than physical force (Black et al., 2011; Broach & Petetric, 2006; DeGue & DeLillo, 2005; Logan, Cole, & Shannon, 2007). When thinking of coercive control in intimate partner violence, it is clear that demands and threats can be implicit. For example, Dutton & Goodman (2005) describe how women report just knowing that if they did (or did not do) an action, “x”, then their partner would respond with a subsequent punishment, “y”. In studying intimate partner sexual violence, many women report such a type of implicit threat, knowing that they have to have sex with their partners when they did not want to in order to prevent dealing with their partners’ negative reactions. Non-consent outside the context of physical force may be difficult to identify because a woman may submit to coercive sexual tactics and consent to unwanted sex to avoid the negative outcomes of refusing it (Livingston, Buddie, Testa, & Vanzile-Tamsen, 2004) or out of perceived obligation to a spouse or partner (Basile,
exposed and not exposed to intimate partner violence: an analysis of 330 black, white and
McHugh, M. C., & Frieze, I. H. (2006). Intimate partner violence. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1087, 121–141. doi: 10.1196/annals.1385.011
To be raped is to be sexually assaulted forcefully and unwillingly. According to the Uniform Crime reports, of all serious offenses, rape is probably “the most under reported crime.” Victims of rape are not only violated physically, they are violated mentally as well. It is a very traumatic experience that woman have to deal with for the remainder of their life. They usually incur symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome, stress disorders, fear, constant memories of the attack, a loss of confidence, and shame. (Mary E. Williams) These effects alter the victim’s life severely and can interfere with their day to day life and relationships. Being raped is a horrific crime that no woman should ever have to endure. In many cases victims of rape may become impregnated by the perpetrator leaving the victim to another form of violation. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, at least 9,100 abortions each year are attributed to pregnancies that occur because of forced sexual intercourse. (Irin Carmon)