Armed Conflict and Unwanted Births in Colombia

Armed conflict has been linked to fertility changes globally, but little is known about how reproductive autonomy is affected. Unwanted fertility is likely to occur during conflicts due to escalations of sexual violence and restricted access to contraception and abortion, especially among marginalized groups. Drawing on an intersectional lens of reproductive justice, this study investigates the relationship between women's exposure to local conflict violence and experiences of unwanted births in Colombia. The study is based on a nationally representative sample of 16,476 children born between 1999 and 2015, from the Demographic and Health Surveys, linked to spatiotemporal conflict data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program. Results from fixed effects regressions show that exposure to conflict is indeed associated with a higher probability of experiencing unwanted births, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged people. The study also evaluates how patterns vary by the frequency, intensity, duration, geographical scope, and type of conflict.