Reproductive Coercion in Emerging Policy Contexts: A Call for Social Work Research

Fifteen years ago, research on reproductive coercion emerged in the medical and public health literature, documenting a form of intimate violence where perpetrators exploit their partners’ reproductive autonomy to exert power and control. The CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey estimates that 8.4% of cisgender women and 9.7% of cisgender men have experienced reproductive coercion in their lifetime, with numerous reproductive, sexual, and mental health consequences. Studies have found disparities in reproductive coercion, with minoritized people (e.g., sexual minority women, people of color) at elevated risk for this form of intimate violence. Professional organizations have recommended clinicians regularly assess for reproductive coercion yet prevention efforts and help seeking are hindered by under-recognition of the phenomenon by researchers, clinicians, survivors, and policy makers.

While research to document the prevalence of reproductive coercion is important, there are notable gaps in the literature that social work researchers are uniquely positioned to address. From a theoretical perspective, research on reproductive coercion has been largely atheoretical, with studies rarely exploring why population-level patterns of reproductive coercion, including disparities, may exist. Moreover, researchers have largely focused on reproductive coercion perpetrated by intimate partners or in-laws, with less attention to how reproductive coercion may be perpetrated by institutions and state actors. For example, with the 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, there is debate among researchers about whether reproductive coercion is solely an interpersonal phenomenon or whether institutional and governmental action and inaction restricting reproductive autonomy is reproductive coercion. Finally, research is needed on the links between reproductive coercion and other forms of violence, especially in policy contexts that limit access to healthcare and increase access to firearms.

This roundtable session will share a history of reproductive coercion, explain the limitations of current research on reproductive coercion, and explore how social work researchers may move the field forward. Presenters will encourage the audience to consider how the outer layers of the social ecology shape patterns and interpersonal experiences of reproductive coercion. The first presenter, a researcher who contributed to foundational work in this area, will share a history of how this research emerged, and introduce a reproductive justice framework to expand the field’s focus. The second presenter will discuss how the state emphasized traditional gender norms and family structures in the Dobbs decision, thereby perpetuating reproductive coercion through institutional betrayal. The third presenter will present findings regarding the links between reproductive coercion, help seeking, and risk for homicide from research conducted in a state with of the nation’s most severe abortion restrictions. Together, the panelists and audience will generate a call for social work researchers to address reproductive coercion to impact social work research, policy, and practice.