Men who try to trick women into getting pregnant: Study finds link between teen pregnancy and dating violence

I think many of us have heard stories where women purposely attempt to trap men by allowing themselves to become pregnant on purpose. It's disgusting and evil. But did you know that men also poke holes in condoms or flush pregnancy pill packs in attempts to get their female partners pregnant?

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According to one of the study's authors, Elizabeth Miller, M.D., of UC-Davis, one girl interviewed by researchers told them her boyfriend "tried to get me pregnant on purpose and then made me have an abortion." Davis says, "This is clearly out-and-out control of a woman's body. Control for control's sake."

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Miller's study was based on interviews with a ethnically diverse group of 61 girls from Boston's poorest neighborhoods. All had histories of partner violence and 53 of them were in abusive relationships. 26 percent reported that their partners were attempting to get them pregnant against their wills by manipulating birth control or sweet-talking them about "making beautiful babies" together.


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For information on how to prevent various types of violence (and this is a form of dating violence) visit the Family Violence Prevention Fund.


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What's the answer? Dr Miller suggests that pregnancy prevention programs should include discussions about reproductive control as a form of abuse in relationships.

In a 2007 article from Salon.com Jay Silverman, director of Violence Prevention Programs for the Harvard School of Public Health and senior author on the study stated, "When we see girls who cannot consistently use contraception, who are requesting frequent emergency contraception, or who seek repeat pregnancy testing, we need to be asking very directly about abuse from male partners and find ways to support [the girls] and promote their safety".


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This of course is only one study however the fact that things kind of thing happens at all is discouraging. It's bad enough that women do this to men but that men also feel comfortable exuding their perceived power in this way.