When Pregnancy Results from Rape

31 Mar When Pregnancy Results from Rape

In the United States, approximately 32,000 pregnancies result from rape each year.²

How Does Sexual Violence Against Women Happen?

Long ago, it was thought that a woman couldn’t get pregnant unless she had consented to sex. This myth was perpetuated for centuries and used to subjugate women and prevent them from speaking out against their abusers. Thanks to advancing social theory and medical science, we now know better. Yet, sexual violence against women continues, taking many forms of sexual assault to rape. In the United States, an astonishing 32,000 pregnancies result from rape each year² and the frequency is similiar across all racial and ethnic groups.¹ 

The majority of rape-related pregnancies (RRP) happen with a current or former partner, compared to rape by an acquaintance or stranger. This highlights the prevalence of intimate partner violence in the United States, which is a major public health problem. When women are raped by a partner or former partner, they are more likely to report sexual coercion, intentionally trying to get her pregnant when she does not want to, and stopping the woman from using birth control or refusing to wear a condom.¹

Rape-related also known as forced pregnancies are rarely by strangers, but often tied closely to other themes in a woman’s life in which she does not have personal agency (feelings of control of her life) or self-determination. A woman may be unsure if she’s ready to become a mother or if she wants to have children at all. The power dynamics of a relationship may be that she is financially or economically dependent on her partner and therefore she feels she has less “choice.” There may be intimate partner violence or aggression in other physical and emotional ways against her. She may feel social pressure from her family, peer group, or the society she lives in to stay silent about intimate partner violence. 

Underage girls who become pregnant are more likely to have been abused by a family member and to have been continuously sexually abused since childhood.² The younger a girl is when she becomes sexually active, the more likely she is to have coercive sex. Most teenage pregnancies are fathered by adult men.

The legacy of sex abuse as a child can lead a girl/woman to feeling a loss of control over her sexual life. The physical consequences of this often include an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections, decreased use of contraception and increased pregnancy. The long term personal consequences in an adult woman’s life can be profound, with increased abuse of drugs and alcohol and unresolved emotional trauma playing out in daily life. 

Getting Clear on Sexual Assault and Rape Definitions

Oftentimes, the terms sexual assault and rape are used interchangeably. It’s important to get clear on the definition. Rape is a type of sexual assault, but not all sexual assault is rape.

Sexual assault is a crime of violence and aggression and includes a range of sex acts from sexual coersion (persuasion by psychological or physical force or threats) to contact abuse (unwanted kissing, touching, or fondling) to rape.² 

Rape is penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or rectum (anus) with any body part or object; or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without consent.²

There are multiple forms of rape that relate to the age of the victim and relationship to the abuser (i.e. child rape). It’s important to know that there is not just one definition or specific experience of sexual assault or rape. 

If you need help or know someone that does, there is immediate help available through the Rape, Abuse, and Incent National Network (RAINN). You can call/chat their National Sexual Assault Hotline 24/7 at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

The National Domestic Violence Hotline number is 1-800-799-7233 or SMS: Text START to 8878. Open 24/7 and available in English/Spanish and 200+ other languages through an interpretation service.

Healing from Pregnancy-Related Rape

Rape-related pregnancy is a traumatic experience. Women are faced with the choice to raise the child, give the baby up for adoption, or terminate the pregnancy. None of these choices are easy and for each woman, the path is different.

Two of the most important first steps to take is to formulate a plan to get to a place of physical and emotional safety and to connect with a strong social support network, which may include your healthcare provider, social and mental health services, survivor peer groups and legal assistance. Click here, for more information about getting help.

In most States, a rapist maintains parental rights and may even assert visitation rights, so researching your State’s laws is critical to the long-term plan.

Rape-trauma syndrome is a unique set of psychological symptoms that occur after the traumatic experience. It typically occurs in three distinct phases in which the victim experiences physical problems, emotional disturbances, and long-term post-traumatic stress syndrome, especially if the trauma is not addressed.

One of the most effective ways a woman can begin the healing process of sexual assault is to seek out resources and knowledgeable individuals that can provide trauma-informed care. This means finding people and professionals that understand the effect of sexual assault trauma, recognize the signs, and help her process the trauma while building resilience and resistance to retraumatization.²

Physical and emotional safety is paramount to recovery. It is then a woman can reclaim herself and begin the process of healing and self-empowerment. For more information on getting help, click here.  Physical and emotional assault and abuse is never your fault. You are not alone, Mama.

REFERENCES:

1. Centers for Disease Control. (2020). Understanding pregnancy resulting from rape in the United States. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/understanding-RRP-inUS.html
2. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2019). Sexual assault. https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2019/04/sexual-assault#:~:text=Sexual%20assault%20may%20lead%20to,from%20rape%20each%20year%2010