Migrant experiences of sexual and gender based violence: a critical interpretative synthesis

Abstract

Background Gender based violence (GBV) is a critical issue and migrants are at higher risk of experiencing and being victimized by GBV. This critical interpretative synthesis (CIS) examines migrants experiences of GBV with a focus on different migrant groups and experiences at different stages of the migrant journey. Method The guiding question of this review is: “how do migrants experience gender-based violence?” A total of 84 studies were included in the CIS, of which 67 peer-reviewed academic articles were selected from 2356 studies found on WebofScience, MedLINE, and ProQuest, and 17 relevant studies from the grey literature were selected from the time period 2011 to 2020. All final studies were reviewed and synthesized using a critical inductive approach to formulate the key results. Results The results demonstrate a high prevalence of GBV amongst migrants, and in particular among vulnerable migrant groups such as forced migrants and irregular migrants, with an emerging focus on male victims. Findings of the CIS revealed three key themes: 1) Most GBV occurrences are rooted in unequal power dynamics; 2) Victims often live with long-lasting consequences that are worsened by their fear of disclosure and stigmatization; 3) There are differential understandings of victimhood across organizations, communities, and victims themselves. In order to support access, sampling, and methodological challenges in this field of research, this article also reports its findings on common risk-factors identified, consequences and coping mechanisms reported, protection policies targeting GBV, and finally, available databases and data collection methods. Conclusion Further directions for research should be encouraged to move beyond prevalence reporting into identifying risk-factors and possible prevention in both sexes. In addition, more research on GBV experiences throughout migrants’ journeys, and coping mechanisms should be encouraged.

Sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence among female migrants in Morocco: a cross sectional survey

“…The forms of SGBV experienced by migrants often vary during migration phases and may lead to migrants experiencing several forms of SGBV and by different aggressors. Further understanding of how time and space affect the experience of SGBV should be the target of future research and would guide the design of appropriate interventions tailored to migration stages and forms of SGBV [43].…”

Migrant health in the United Kingdom

“…Negative attitudes and behaviour of some, but not all, GPs has been reported to result in poorer access to care for the migrant women (Higginbottom et al., 2020). Migrant women may be exposed to gender-based violence by smugglers or other unscrupulous operatives, be sold into labour, sexploitation by traffickers, or forced into transactional sex to gain passage, shelter, sustenance or money for onward journeys (Tan and Kuschminder, 2022).…”

Gendered Challenges

“…While there is growing literature on gender and migration, there is still a lacuna in the literature about gender and transnational space, highlighting gendered challenges within the transnational space from an intersectionality perspective. Most literature (Jolof, Rocca, Mazaheri, Emegwa & Carlsson 2022;Nhengu 2022;Tan & Kuschminder 2022) highlight those complexities only within the host country and forgetting that their lives are a web of interconnected past and present and that those complexities are not homogeneous, despite those women belonging to one community. Thus, their experiences are multi-stranded, and this aspect cannot be ignored if we are to gain a better understanding of gendered challenges.…”