On World Contraception Day, Engender Equality is highlighting reproductive coercion as a serious form of interpersonal abuse and sexual violence that restricts a person’s reproductive autonomy and often occurs within a pattern of coercive control.
Media release – Engender Equality, 22 September 2025
COERCION and control that limits reproductive autonomy in the spotlight
On World Contraception Day on 26 September 2025 Engender Equality wants to raise awareness of reproductive coercion, a behaviour that interferes with a person’s reproductive autonomy and is both a form of interpersonal abuse and sexual violence.
Engender Equality CEO, Alina Thomas said,
“These behaviours are usually perpetrated against women by male partners and almost always manifest within a broader pattern of controlling behaviours known as ‘coercive control’.
“Reproductive coercion can be hard to identify because it occurs privately, in a climate of controlling relationships, and involves significant feelings of shame for the victim.
“Traditional gender roles also reinforce men’s propriety over women, remembering that rape within marriage was legal in Australia until the late 1970s.
“Governmental policies and systems that influence or restrict reproductive choices, including those which limit access to termination, create a climate where reproductive coercion can flourish.
“Laws and regulations that interfere with an individual’s reproductive health decision-making cause psychological distress and create real barriers to a victim seeking help.
“Our Primary Care Family and Sexual Violence (PCFSV) Support Service is working with general practitioners throughout Tasmania to support their work with victim-survivors.
“We ask that they treat reproductive coercion with the same gravity and sensitivity you would other forms of intimate partner, sexual or family violence,” Thomas said.
Reproductive coercion can include forcing or pressuring someone to become pregnant or to terminate a pregnancy or preventing someone from accessing contraception. Doing things to stop contraception from working such as ‘stealthing’, the act of removing a condom during sex, or forcing or pressuring someone to undergo sterilisation are also prevalent. Some perpetrators prevent their partners from accessing reproductive healthcare, including screening tests for sexually transmitted infections and cervical cancer (pap smears).
Reproductive nurse, working in primary care, Teagan Atkins, explains;
“If a patient appears intimidated by or afraid of their partner, the patient’s partner speaks for the patient, makes decisions on their behalf or is otherwise controlling, this would be a red flag.
“The patient’s partner may insist on attending routine medical appointments, including consultations on contraception and reproductive health to exert control.
“A patient appearing isolated from other family members and friends or who seems reluctant or regretful about their reproductive health choices, including past pregnancies or terminations may also indicate reproductive coercion,” Atkins said.
This Primary Care Family and Sexual Violence Support Service is funded by Primary Health Tasmania (Tasmania PHN), through the Australian Government’s Primary Health Networks Program.
Engender Equality is a not-for-profit agency leading the program in partnership with Laurel House.
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