Reproductive coercion and contraceptive use in Ethiopia

Context: While intimate partner violence (IPV) is recognized as a major contributor to poor reproductive health outcomes, the relationship between IPV and contraceptive use is unclear. Reproductive coercion (RC), a mechanism by which power is maintained over a partner through enforced reproductive behaviours, could be the missing link in understanding this relationship. However, there is limited understanding of RC and contraceptive use in sub-Saharan Africa.
Data Source and Methods: We use large-scale population based survey data from Ethiopia and examine the relationship between reproductive coercion and contraceptive use. In addtion, we also estimated the predictors of reproductive coercion. All models were estimated using multivariate logistic regression techniques.
Findings: Our findings suggest a strong negative association between RC and contraceptive use after adjusting for IPV and other factors, while emotional IPV was strongly predictive of RC.
Conclusion: Reproductive Coercion can be critical for understanding how controlling behaviours and violence manifest in the reproductive arena and impact family planning decision-making.

Keywords
Reproductive coercion; intimate partner violence; contraceptive use; Ethiopia