Are Reproductive Health Services a Good Place to Screen for Intimate Partner Violence?

Title X is a federally funded family planning initiative that provides low-cost and confidential reproductive health services to its clients. In recent years, Title X has been the subject of debate as its core tenants have been revised by the current administration. Though advocates have fought against these changes, the voices of survivors on intimate partner violence are absent from this conversation. This study was designed to elicit the opinions and experiences on survivors of intimate partner violence on reproductive decision-making, their access to care, and their opinions about political efforts to restrict this access. Twenty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with women who were seeking services for intimate partner violence. These interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded. Codes were then organized into themes. Participants endorsed the need for confidential services due to experiences of coercion from their partners and the fear of retaliation against them. Participants largely supported accessible contraception but reported the need for contraception to be reliable. Participants addressed pregnancy and its many complexities and advocated for nondirective options-counseling. Overall, participants spoke about their challenges with reproductive health care and their opinions on how best to service survivors of intimate partner violence. This study asserts the need for advocates for survivors to advocate for the preservation of Title X and establishes the need for future studies on the prevalence of intimate partner violence in Title X clinics.

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Integrating Reproductive Health Services Into Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Victim Service Programs

Violence Against Women ◽

10.1177/1077801217741992 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 24 (13) ◽

pp. 1557-1569 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Theresa Gmelin ◽

Claire A. Raible ◽

Rebecca Dick ◽

Surabhi Kukke ◽

Elizabeth Miller

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Sexual Violence ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Health Assessment ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Reproductive Health Services ◽

Service Programs ◽

Victim Services ◽

Program Leadership

This study assessed the feasibility of integrating reproductive health services into intimate partner violence/sexual violence (IPV/SV) programs. After a training for victim service agencies on integration of health services, we conducted semistructured interviews with IPV/SV program leadership. Leadership reported advocates were more likely to recognize the need to refer clients to health services, and revealed challenges operationalizing partnerships with health care centers. Training to integrate basic health assessment into victim services may be one way to address women’s urgent health needs. Formal partnership agreements, protocols to facilitate referrals, and opportunities to cross-train are needed to nurture these cross-sector collaborations.

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Sexual health (excluding reproductive health, intimate partner violence and gender-based violence) and COVID-19: a scoping review

Sexually Transmitted Infections ◽

10.1136/sextrans-2020-054896 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. sextrans-2020-054896

Author(s):

Navin Kumar ◽

Kamila Janmohamed ◽

Kate Nyhan ◽

Laura Forastiere ◽

Wei-Hong Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Health Disparities ◽

Reproductive Health ◽

Sexual Health ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

Gender Based ◽

And Gender

ObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing socioeconomic and health disparities, including disparities in sexual health and well-being. While there have been several reviews published on COVID-19 and population health disparities generally—including some with attention to HIV—none has focused on sexual health (ie, STI care, female sexual health, sexual behaviour). We have conducted a scoping review focused on sexual health (excluding reproductive health (RH), intimate partner violence (IPV) and gender-based violence (GBV)) in the COVID-19 era, examining sexual behaviours and sexual health outcomes.MethodsA scoping review, compiling both peer-reviewed and grey literature, focused on sexual health (excluding RH, IPV and GBV) and COVID-19 was conducted on 15 September 2020. Multiple bibliographical databases were searched. Study selection conformed to Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Reviewers’ Manual 2015 Methodology for JBI Scoping Reviews. We only included English-language original studies.ResultsWe found that men who have sex with men may be moving back toward pre-pandemic levels of sexual activity, and that STI and HIV testing rates seem to have decreased. There was minimal focus on outcomes such as the economic impact on sexual health (excluding RH, IPV and GBV) and STI care, especially STI care of marginalised populations. In terms of population groups, there was limited focus on sex workers or on women, especially women’s sexual behaviour and mental health. We noticed limited use of qualitative techniques. Very few studies were in low/middle-income countries (LMICs).ConclusionsSexual health research is critical during a global infectious disease pandemic and our review of studies suggested notable research gaps. Researchers can focus efforts on LMICs and under-researched topics within sexual health and explore the use of qualitative techniques and interventions where appropriate.

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