Women Refugee’s Perceptions, Experiences and Coping Mechanisms in Situations of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV): A Metasynthesis

Abstract

Women represent almost half of the 20 million refugees worldwide, and although they play a key role in their communities, their voices and needs are often missing from research and policies directed to this population. A qualitative systematic review, or metasynthesis, was conducted to examine the experiences, perceptions, coping mechanisms, and psychological discourses of women refugees in situations of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) that occur during the travel, interception, and destination migratory stages. A systematic search was conducted on five multidisciplinary databases and was complemented with a manual search, resulting on a total of 511 articles which were screened for eligibility. Only qualitative, peer-reviewed, and English-written research articles were selected, and they were required to (1) focus on women refugees above 15 years of age and (2) report on their experiences, perceptions, psychological discourses, and/or coping with SGBV during their migration across countries (international migration). Ultimately, a total of 14 qualitative research articles were selected for the review. Using the thematic synthesis approach as a guideline, the results were summarized in the following themes: experiences of SGBV, perception of SGBV, perception of the risk factors creating and perpetuating their vulnerability, coping with SGBV, barriers to help-seeking, and psychological consequences. Despite the broad search, only information about some types of SGBV experiences from Asian and African refugee communities was found. Nonetheless, the available qualitative information on this topic is effectively integrated, knowledge gaps are identified, and future research, interventions, and policies using an integrated and culturally sensitive framework are suggested.