Media Release - Midwives crucial to detecting reproductive coercion - International Day of the Midwife
MEDIA RELEASE
28 April 2026
MIDWIVES CRUCIAL TO DETECTING REPRODUCTIVE COERCION – INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE MIDWIFE
During International Day of the Midwife on 5 May, Engender Equality reflects on the critical role of midwives and other women’s health care providers in identifying women experiencing reproductive control and coercion.
Engender Equality CEO, Alina Thomas said,
“Reproductive control or coercion may take the form of contraception sabotage and/or pressure to either carry a pregnancy to term or to have a termination.
“Midwives and other health professionals are in the position to assist women in identifying and naming these coercive behaviours and help them regaining autonomy and control over their reproductive health.
“Any behaviour that interferes with a person’s reproductive autonomy is both a form of interpersonal abuse and sexual violence.
“Governmental policies and systems that influence or restrict reproductive choices, including those which limit access to terminations, are also a form of abuse and create a climate where reproductive coercion can flourish.
Reproductive coercion can include forcing or pressuring someone to become pregnant or to terminate a pregnancy or preventing someone from accessing contraception. Doing things to stop contraception from working such as ‘stealthing’, the act of removing a condom during sex, or forcing or pressuring someone to undergo sterilisation are also prevalent. Some partners using violence prevent their partners from accessing reproductive health care, including screening tests for sexually transmitted infections and cervical cancer (pap smears).
Jess Drew, Manager, Primary Care Family and Sexual Violence Support Pilot said,
“Our Primary Care Family and Sexual Violence (PCFSV) Support team is working with general practices, family planning clinics and Women’s Health Tasmania throughout Tasmania to support their work with victim-survivors.”
“A patient appearing isolated from other family members and friends or who seems reluctant or regretful about their reproductive health choices, including past pregnancies or terminations may also indicate reproductive coercion.
“If a patient appears intimidated by, or afraid of their partner, the patient’s partner speaks for the patient, makes decisions on their behalf, or is otherwise controlling, this would be a red flag.
“The patient’s partner may insist on attending routine medical appointments, including consultations on contraception and reproductive health to exert control.
“Practices such as screening for reproductive coercion with the partner out of the room and having clinic protocols in place that provide private examinations for women, without incident or arousing concern, are important.
“We ask practitioners to treat reproductive coercion with the same gravity and sensitivity you would other forms of intimate partner, sexual or family violence.
Ends.
Media Contact: Alina Thomas 0438 788 291
Additional Information
This Primary Care Family and Sexual Violence Support Pilot is funded by Primary Health Tasmania (Tasmania PHN), through the Australian Government’s Primary Health Networks Program. Engender Equality is a not-for-profit agency leading the program in partnership with Laurel House.
More information including how General Practices and Aboriginal Health Services can connect with the service is available at 03 6268 1663, admin@pcfsv.org.au or https://engenderequality.org.au/pcfsv/.
Newsletter - Specialist family violence counselling long wait times - The problem and the solution - Engender Equality Update - April 2026
Long wait times for specialist family violence counselling can deepen harm, delay recovery and healing and discourage help-seeking for victim-survivors.
Engender Equality has released two new reports – 2025 Brief Intervention Pilot Program Evaluation Report and Delayed support, heightened harm: The impacts of long wait times for specialist family violence services. Read together, these two reports illuminate the devastating impact of long wait times whilst offering a practical response to address this issue.
Publication - Delayed support, heightened harm: The impacts of long wait times for specialist family violence services, April 2026
This report outlines the impact of dangerously delayed and inadequate service responses on the lives of victim-survivors of family violence. Victim-survivors and family violence practitioners alike have expressed their frustrations with being unable to access or offer consistent and responsive service responses due to lack of, or changes in, funding and resources (Safe & Equal, 2025).
Publication - 2025 Brief Intervention Pilot Program Evaluation Report, April 2026
Engender Equality is Tasmania’s statewide provider of therapeutic services for victim-survivors recovering and healing from family violence, primarily delivered through medium to long-term therapeutic counselling. At present, there are approximately 200 people on Engender’s waitlist statewide, with an average wait time of 24 months in the South, and 12 months in the North and North West.
These disturbing and heartbreaking numbers continue to grow, year on year, as growth in demand from victim-survivors outstrips Engender’s funding from the State Government. The negative and often irreversible impacts of such long wait-times on victim-survivors, and their children, are well documented (see Engender’s 2026 report ‘Delayed Support, Heightened Harm: The Impacts of Long Wait Times for Specialist Family Violence Services’).
Engender strives to deliver relevant and responsive therapeutic services to Tasmanians who have experienced intimate partner violence, where all people accessing our services receive timely and tailored support, suitable for their needs.
To be an effective support service for victim-survivors of intimate partner violence, Engender recognised the need to diversify our therapeutic services to include a short-term counselling response. It was anticipated that this approach would better support people who will benefit from a responsive and short-term counselling intervention whilst also serving to reduce our wait time for medium to longer term counselling.
In 2025, Engender used its cash reserves to pilot a therapeutically beneficial and cost-effective program to test this theory. This program was called the ‘Brief Intervention Pilot Program’ or ‘BIPP’.
News item - The Examiner: Connection helping fathers, kids
By Lauren Richardson
Published by The Examiner, 13/04/26
From shaving tips to emotional safety, a new Tasmanian project is helping fathers champion their transgender children through connection and shared experiences
In-clinic capacity building sessions and online training available
Capacity building sessions are available in-clinic, delivered by your PCFSV Support Specialist on topics such as the SAVADA Framework, coercive control, child sexual abuse, mandatory reporting and documentation.
Safer Families, The University of Melbourne also have online training available on identifying and responding to domestic and family violence.
More information is available in the flyer below.
Submission in relation to strengthening our responses to family violence in Tasmania - Family Violence Act 2004 and related legislation Discussion Paper, 2 April 2026
Tasmania can adequately and ultimately eliminate family violence. Achieving this requires a shared understanding of what family violence is and why it occurs. This must be reflected in legislation and serve as a cornerstone of all prevention, early intervention and response initiatives across government and non-government organisations and communities.
News item - ABC News: Rape investigation raises questions about how Tasmania Police handles family violence by serving officers
By Hayley Gleeson
Posted to ABC News, 23/04/26
At first Laura* assumed police had called her into the station to talk about the abuse she had been experiencing — because they wanted to help her. Her relationship with her partner, a Tasmania Police officer, had broken down, and Laura had called police during an argument with him the night before because she was scared he was going to hit her.
Instead, she was blindsided. A police family violence order (PFVO) was being issued against her because her ex had gone to the station earlier that day and told the sergeant on duty that he felt “emotionally abused” by Laura and was worried for his safety.
