A Systematic Review of Sexual and Reproductive Health Knowledge, Experiences and Access to Services among Refugee, Migrant and Displaced Girls and Young Women in Africa

Abstract

Adolescent girls and young women are an overlooked group within conflict- or disaster-affected populations, and their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs are often neglected. Existing evidence shows that forced migration and human mobility make girls and women more vulnerable to poor SRH outcomes such as high risk sexual behaviors, lack of contraception use, STIs and HIV/AIDS. We performed a systematic literature review to explore knowledge, experiences and access to SRH services in this population group across the African continent. Two databases (PubMed and Web of Science) were searched and from 896 identified publications, 15 peer-reviewed articles published in English met the inclusion criteria for this review. These consisted of eight applied qualitative, five quantitative and two mixed-method study designs. The quality of the studies was evaluated by the mixed-methods appraisal tool (MMAT) using scores in percentages (0–100%). Available evidence indicates that knowledge of young women and girls regarding contraceptive methods, STIs and HIV/AIDS are limited. This population group often experiences gender-based and sexual violence and abuse. The access and availability of SRH services are often limited due to distances, costs and stigma. This review demonstrates that there is still a dearth of peer-reviewed literature on SRH related aspects among refugee, migrant and displaced girls and young women in Africa. The data disaggregation by sex and age should be emphasized for future research in this field.

A Scoping Review of the Health of Conflict-Induced Internally Displaced Women in Africa

“…Religious, cultural, and financial factors also play a role in attitudes toward contraceptive usage among African women [41][42][43][44][45]. Existing studies conducted among displaced adolescents in Africa support this, demonstrating that misconceptions about contraceptives cause adolescents to refrain from using them [59]. Additionally, the culture of home delivery is a common practice in traditional Africa which may also indirectly affect utilization of contraception.…”

“…This review showed that research has been done on the health of displaced women in parts of Africa. Nevertheless, sex-disaggregated information on internal migration in Africa as it pertains to women's health is scarce [59].…”

A Qualitative Study Exploring Menstruation Experiences and Practices among Adolescent Girls Living in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda

“…Women comprise 52% of the refuge population in Uganda, with 8% of the total population being girls between 12 and 17 years old [ 1 ]. Evidence suggests that sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of women and girls might be negatively influenced by the challenges due to migration and displacement [ 2 , 3 ]. Available evidence demonstrates that knowledge of young refugee and displaced women and girls regarding contraceptive methods, STIs and HIV/AIDS are limited.…”

“…They frequently experience gender-based and sexual violence. Distance, costs and stigma often limit their access to, and availability of, SRH services [ 3 ].…”

Sexual and reproductive health knowledge among young people: a bibliometric analysis (1900 – 2019)

“…The search query was developed using terms and phrases that were mainly obtained from reviews and published articles [15][16][17] (Table 1). To increase the accuracy of the results, these terms/phrases were used in the title search since title/abstract search will retrieve many irrelevant documents.…”