Associations Between Unintended Pregnancy, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault in a Population of Queensland Women

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Sharman, Leah S
Douglas, Heather
Price, Elizabeth
Sheeran, Nicola
Dingle, Genevieve A
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2019
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Abstract

This study aimed to establish the proportion of women seeking information regarding unintended pregnancy in the context of domestic violence (DV) and/or sexual assault (SA) experiences in Queensland. Mental health, sociodemographic variables, and gestation at first and repeated contacts were examined for 6249 women primarily seeking information regarding abortion options during an unintended pregnancy over the 5-year period from July 2012 to June 2017. Reports of DV and SA and associations with mental health issues increased significantly across the 5 years. First contact rates of disclosure were 12.2% for DV and 3% for SA, and higher among repeat contacts (38.1% for DV and 14.1% for SA), with recurring contact facilitating violence disclosure. Restricting access to abortions in the context of violence impedes a woman’s agency in attempts to separate from violence and highlights the need for safe, supportive, and accessible services, to assist in screening and assisting with violence.

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Psychiatry, Psychology and Law

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© 2018 Taylor & Francis (Routledge). This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Psychiatry, Psychology and Law on 24 Oct 2018, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2018.1510347

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This publication has been entered into Griffith Research Online as an Advanced Online Version.

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Criminology

Psychology

Cognitive and computational psychology

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