Grace Karen Trister, Holliday Charvonne N, Bevilacqua Kristin, Kaur Arshdeep, Miller Janice, Decker Michele R
School of Nursing, College of Health and Human Services, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, MSN 3C4, Fairfax, VA 22030 USA.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD USA.
J Fam Violence. 2023;38(4):713-722. doi: 10.1007/s10896-022-00362-0. Epub 2022 Mar 8.
Housing instability and intimate partner violence (IPV) compromise women's sexual and reproductive health (SRH) through reduced contraceptive access and increased risk of unintended pregnancy. This study describes the reproductive health status and needs of IPV survivors receiving housing support and explores factors influencing their experience of reproductive coercion (RC), specifically. Cross-sectional baseline data from a quasi-experimental study of 70 IPV survivors enrolled in housing programs in the Baltimore, MD, metropolitan area from June 2019 through December 2020 were analyzed. Of the 70 women enrolled in the study, 70.3 percent ( = 45) desired to avoid pregnancy, but 57.4 percent were either using no contraceptive method (31.2%) or methods with low effectiveness (26.2%). Approximately, 1 in 6 women (16.4%, = 11) experienced RC in the past 3 months, which was associated with frequency and severity of IPV ( = 0.001 to 0.005) and PTSD ( = 0.001), as well as not sharing children with the abusive partner ( = 0.002). This study highlights reproductive health risks in an important and under-studied population of women seeking housing due to IPV. Leaving an abusive relationship is a uniquely vulnerable time, and also a time of opportunity, as women are accessing services that can be tailored to their SRH needs. Significant results highlight vulnerability to and consequences of RC in this population. This study has implications for IPV support programs and housing programs that serve women.
住房不稳定和亲密伴侣暴力会通过减少避孕措施的获取以及增加意外怀孕的风险来损害女性的性健康和生殖健康。本研究描述了接受住房支持的亲密伴侣暴力幸存者的生殖健康状况和需求，并具体探讨了影响她们遭受生殖胁迫经历的因素。分析了2019年6月至2020年12月在马里兰州巴尔的摩市大都市区参与住房项目的70名亲密伴侣暴力幸存者的准实验研究的横断面基线数据。在参与研究的70名女性中，70.3%（n = 45）希望避免怀孕，但57.4%的人要么未采取任何避孕措施（31.2%），要么采取了效果不佳的避孕方法（26.2%）。在过去3个月中，约六分之一的女性（16.4%，n = 11）遭受了生殖胁迫，这与亲密伴侣暴力的频率和严重程度（p = 0.001至0.005）、创伤后应激障碍（p = 0.001）以及不与施暴伴侣共同抚养孩子（p = 0.002）有关。本研究凸显了因亲密伴侣暴力而寻求住房的重要且研究不足的女性群体中的生殖健康风险。离开虐待关系是一个特别脆弱的时期，但也是一个机遇期，因为女性正在获取可以根据她们的性健康和生殖健康需求进行定制的服务。显著的研究结果凸显了该群体易遭受生殖胁迫及其后果。本研究对为女性提供服务的亲密伴侣暴力支持项目和住房项目具有启示意义。
