Carolina Gomez Mena
Newspaper La Jornada
Monday, February 28, 2022, p. 18
When women are in violent relationships, their chances of accessing family planning services and preventing an unwanted pregnancy Are affected
says the Ipas Central America and Mexico (CAM) report, “Why do women abort?”, which highlights that the negative influence
masculine can be reflected in the contraceptive sabotage
.
This action is a active interference
of men to hinder the use of contraceptives or their operation, and this can occur in different ways: “hiding, retaining or destroying contraceptive pills or injections, breaking or piercing the condom or removing it during intercourse, not withdrawing when ejaculating when that was the agreement or when the woman explicitly requested it, remove the contraceptive patch or try to remove the IUD by pulling the threads that remain at the level of the cervix.
Ipas CAM, an international non-profit organization, states that for many reasons women abort, but the role of men in the issue is almost never discussed, especially their participation in the use of contraceptive methods and its relationship with the rise of unplanned or unwanted pregnancies. Personal, subjective, financial, social, emotional and health issues converge in the decision to abort, and in general women have more than one reason to do so.
Data from Conapo (2019) indicate that in the case of adolescents between 15 and 19 years old, 53 percent declared that the pregnancy was planned, that means that almost half
they were not. Ipas CAM stresses that all women should have accompanying conditions so that they freely express their emotions, expectations and desires regarding the exercise of their sexuality and reproduction without being judged or stigmatized or even criminalized if they decide to abort
. One of the main causes of unplanned pregnancy is sexual violence, especially in girls and adolescents. This type of aggression is not limited to the act of forced penetration, it ranges from verbal harassment, pressure and intimidation with the use of physical force. There is also sexual coercion, a dynamic exercise of power and control without the use of physical violence that involves various tactics such as threats, isolation and financial control or emotional abuse.
Other causes are unprotected coital relationships and failures in contraceptive methods.
