Season 3 Episode 4: Reproductive Coercion

Partnered with a Survivor: David Mandel and Ruth Reymundo Mandel

Reproductive coercion is part of a perpetrator's pattern of coercive control and is a common and powerful tool that is used to entrap & control victims using pregnancy & children. Forcing women to become pregnant & maintain a pregnancy has long term implications for women & children's lives.
Not only do adult survivors suffer the consequences, but children are used as pawns . In this way, reproductive control can be thought of as a form of child abuse and neglect. In many instances, domestic violence perpetrators do not become abusive until their partner is pregnant and unable to leave them easily or safely.
Against the backdrop of the recent leak of a draft United States' Supreme Court ruling attacking a women's right to autonomy over their own bodies, David & Ruth discuss reproductive coercion in the context of domestic violence including:

• coercion & pressure to become pregnant or maintain a pregnancy
• sabotage and manipulation related to birth control
• control over the pregnancy and birth

In a sometimes raw, far ranging conversation, David & Ruth examine the intersection of domestic violence and reproductive coercion; violence during pregnancy; history of the English Judge, cited 9 times by Justice Alito in his draft ruling, who instructed juries not to believe women's reports of rape; and the need for more work with men around pregnancy, reproductive respect and birth control.

Now available! Mapping the Perpetrator’s Pattern: A Practitioner’s Tool for Improving Assessment, Intervention, and Outcomes The web-based Perpetrator Pattern Mapping Tool is a virtual practice tool for improving assessment, intervention, and outcomes through a perpetrator pattern-based approach. The tool allows practitioners to apply the Model’s critical concepts and principles to their current case load in real

Check out David Mandel's new book "Stop Blaming Mothers and Ignoring Fathers: How to transform the way we keep children safe from domestic violence."