Someone I know is pregnant and I'm thinking of how to congratulate her and reading some suggestions online leaves a really bitter taste. This one says "pregnancy is awesome because you can eat and say whatever you want." A lot of domestic abuse starts when a woman is pregnant.

I know this sounds so sinister: To be clear, I do not think that the woman in question is at risk of domestic violence. Just that pregnancy isn't a happy story for a lot of women. It starts with men complaining that their partner "got fat", "got moody" and "didn't want sex".

A number of men are overwhelmed when their partner becomes pregnant and then has the child because they are no longer the center of attention. I recall a study saying women experience their partner's demands as more stressful on average than what it takes to be a mother.

A lot of women have spoken out about how there was no clear abuse - until they were pregnant by their partner and leaving him would have been extra hard. The kind of abuser who is an opportunist and strikes when she's most vulnerable. These stories are not rare.

I heard enough of these stories from women in my direct vicinity that the thought of pregnancy is frightening. One woman I know was pushed down the stairs while pregnant with the abuser's child. A lot of women were cheated on during pregnancy. Patriarchy does not respect mothers.

25% of all abuse victims are pregnant women. 25%. And 40% of all assaults to women by their intimate partners occurred during their first pregnancy. It’s estimated that pregnant women are at twice the risk for battery. https://www.preventabusiverelationships.com/articles/pregnancy_dv_304.php

Women are also sexually exploited in #prostitution while pregnant, as there is specific demand for pregnant women by some sex buyers. This includes organized paid gang rapes of pregnant women in my country Germany. #Patriarchy puts pregnant women at risk. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/prostitution-pregnancy-pornography-exploitation-consent-a7697536.html

Once again concerning the kind of images the media likes to use when discussing #prostitution - even when it's explicitly about rape and murder of women - they should be showing different. Images, such as these: https://twitter.com/EllyArrow/status/1328662743113752578