REPRODUCTIVE COERCION AND ITS EFFECTS ON WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH OUTCOMES- A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Objective Reproductive coercion is a constellation of behaviors obstructing a woman’s autonomy in reproductive decision-making. This contributes to unwanted reproductive health outcomes in terms of physical and mental morbidity and mortality. The objective was to quantitatively explore its contribution to reproductive health outcomes in women seeking health care for other reasons. Materials and Methods This was a cross-sectional analytical study where the data was collected on the Reproductive Coercion Scale (by Miller) from 424 patients. The independent variables were; worried about pregnancy, pregnancy testing, induced abortion, and unwanted pregnancy/birth and the dependent variable was the scale score of each item. Data was analyzed by Chi-Square/Fisher’s Exact test at Statistical significance of p ? 0.05. Results The mean age of women was 30.13 (SD=6.51) years. Half of the women 212 (50%) were between 20 to 30 years. The majority were housewives 403(95%), living in joint family systems 314 (74.1%), and uneducated 260 (61.3%). There was a significant difference between unwanted/being worried about not pregnant and threats to leave the wife if she did not get pregnant (p=0.03), compelled wife for unprotected sex (p=0.02), and deliberately removed condoms (p=0.02). A significant difference was reported with induced abortions; as the wife was advised against the use of contraceptives (p=0.01), compelled for pregnancy (p=0.03), deliberately barred use of condoms (p=0.03), deliberately removed condom during sex (P=0.05) and damaging condom on purpose (p=0.001). Significant responses were reported for unwanted pregnancy/birth against the items; leaving the wife for not getting pregnant (p=0.001), intentionally barred access to contraceptives (p=0.02), and deliberately damaged condoms (p=0.02). Conclusion Reproductive coercion is overtly denied but covertly reflected in the health-seeking behaviors of women with a significant impact on reproductive health outcomes. Key Words Induced abortion, Reproductive Coercion, Unwanted Pregnancy