1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of women who had terminated a pregnancy in the context of domestic violence.» (p. 288)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The participants were recruited on a voluntary basis, through two domestic violence shelters. Semistructured individual interviews were conducted in French, with a sample of four women living in the province of Québec, Canada.» (p. 288)

Instruments :
Guide d’entretien semi-directif

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

«Overall, the findings suggest that different variables can influence women’s decision-making process in the context of domestic violence, but all of them are to a certain extent, influenced by the control of the perpetrator. This implies that the woman’s individual situation, the couple’s situation, and external constraints cannot be isolated from the dynamic of violence and abuse in women’s lives. In fact, it is likely that the perpetrator will use his power and control throughout women’s decision-making process and will have the final say. Furthermore, abortion remains a decision that has to be made fairly quickly. With all the stress caused by domestic violence, women did not feel they have had enough time to think about it as much and as clearly as they would have wanted to. The pressure put on them by the perpetrators also created feelings of resentment, especially when it was combined with threats. At last, the participants were subjected to the control of the abusive partner prior to the unintended pregnancy, in line with the temporal continuum of reproductive control (Moore et al., 2010). They may have had several different reasons to terminate the unintended pregnancy and various factors influencing their decision, but domestic violence was the main issue they were facing.» (p. 295)