Intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and reproductive health among university women

Abstract

Relationships between victimization, termination of pregnancy (ToP), diagnosis of sexually transmitted infection (STI), and emergency contraceptive use were examined using data from a survey of university students in Montreal, Canada. Female students who had been sexually active in the past two years with at least one male partner were included (n=1,812). Victimization experiences were assessed, and logistic regressions were performed to predict the correlates of lifetime use of emergency contraception, ToP, and ever having been diagnosed with an STI. In this sample, 36.1% reported intimate partner violence (IPV), 8.5% reported sexual assault (SA) and 18.9% reported both SA and IPV. Factors statistically associated with emergency contraceptive use, ToP and STI diagnosis were older age, financial hardship, migratory trajectory, early sexual initiation, and dual victimization. These data indicate that the reproductive health needs of female university students experiencing victimization are unmet. Interventions should focus on victimization screening and enhancing reproductive autonomy.