Syrian Refugee Women Research Articles

Effectiveness of Counseling Program Based on Satir Theory to Reduce Psychological Stress among Married Syrian Refugee Women

The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of implementing a counseling program based on the Satir theory to reduce psychological stress among married Syrian refugee women. A quasi-experimental research design was utilized and 30 Syrian refugee women who visited the International Islamic Organization for International Relief, were recruited from Al Mafrag Governorate. For this research, a survey and a psychological program based on Satir's theory were applied. The results of the study showed a statistically significant difference in the level of psychological stressors among participants in favor of the experimental group. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference in the follow-up over time measurement in favor of the experimental group. The study recommends that more studies are conducted using a similar program but with different variables.

Effectiveness of Counseling Program Based on Satir Theory to Reduce Psychological Stress among Married Syrian Refugee Women

The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of implementing a counseling program based on the Satir theory to reduce psychological stress among married Syrian refugee women. A quasi-experimental research design was utilized and 30 Syrian refugee women who visited the International Islamic Organization for International Relief, were recruited from Al Mafrag Governorate. For this research, a survey and a psychological program based on Satir's theory were applied. The results of the study showed a statistically significant difference in the level of psychological stressors among participants in favor of the experimental group. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference in the follow-up over time measurement in favor of the experimental group. The study recommends that more studies are conducted using a similar program but with different variables.

Language learning through an intersectional lens: Gender, migrant status, and gain in symbolic capital for Syrian refugee women in Turkey

Abstract This paper sheds light on Syrian refugee women’s negotiation strategies in language learning classrooms and in their broader social contexts from an intersectional perspective. Drawing on in-depth interviews and focus groups complemented by participatory observation in language classes, we use a post-structuralist approach to examine gendered language socialization. Our research combines an intersectional framework and a Bourdieusian perspective on symbolic capital to show how women perform gender and negotiate their roles in classrooms, within families and vis-à-vis the host society. The findings demonstrate that being a woman and a migrant presents particular challenges in learning language. At the same time, learning language allows for the re-negotiation of gender relations and power dynamics. We find that gender structures women’s access to linguistic resources and interactional opportunities as they perform language under social pressure to conform to prescribed roles as mothers, wives and virtuous, and shy women. Yet, these roles are not static: gender roles are also reconstituted in the process of language learning and gaining symbolic capital.

Health seeking behaviors among Syrian refugee women: A scoping review

Objective: The aim of this scoping review was to explore what is known about the health seeking behaviors among Syrian refugee women within hospital and community settings. The objectives were to explore health seeking behaviors of Syrian refugee women and highlight specific issues that are important to Syrian refugee women related to seeking for health care. In addition, to uncover potential obstacles/barriers that face Syrian refugee women while seeking for health care.Methods: Arksey and O’Malley (2005) framework for scoping review was utilized to guide the review process and to explore health seeking behaviors of Syrian refugee women. Various databases such as, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Science direct and SocINDEX were utilized in the review. The search strategy consisted of broad queries, in the title, abstract, full texts and keyword fields. The search included studies published from 2011 on, that is, from the time the Syrian conflict started (March 2011) and were limited to those in the English language. Thematic analysis was undertaken to synthesize extracted data.Results: A total of 19 studies were selected for this review. The data from this review were organized along two thematic categories (accessibility of health care services) and (awareness of health care needs and available health care services). Accessibility of health care services was the most frequently reported theme throughout this area of the literature and is most often include (financial barriers, language barriers, availability of culturally and gender appropriate health services). Awareness of health care needs and available health care services was the second commonly encountered theme within the area of Syrian refugee’s women health seeking behaviors.Conclusions: Having available and accessible health care services for Syrian refugee women in host countries is a fundamental human right that can enhance Syrian refugee women health, wellbeing and quality of life. An awareness of the potential health seeking behaviors, obstacles/barriers and challenges that facing Syrian refugee women may help to promote their accessibility to health services and consequently improve their health and wellbeing. Practitioners can use this review findings to inform future policy, education and developments in practice. Further research is required to develop and evaluate initiatives that target the identified barriers and help Syrian refugee women to fulfil their unmet health care needs.

Fertility characteristics and related factors impacting on Syrian refugee women living in Istanbul.

Women's fertility characteristics are affected by many different factors. To gain an awareness of fertility characteristics of Syrian refugee women and the influential factors. This study was planned as a cross-sectional study to determine the efficiency and related factors of Syrian refugees living in Istanbul. The survey of 300 refugee women applying Arabs who migrated to Turkey, Kurds, Turkmen and Yezidi origin they receive. Average age of the women studied was 34.26 ± 10.15, 34.6% of the participants had not received any education, 37% had less than two-year inter-pregnancy interval, 58.6% have not received "Safe Motherhood" service, 43.6% have conceived their last child unwillingly. Women in the study group had in average 3±2,4 children and the number of children they wanted was 3±1,59. These values were substantially affected negatively by the women's education level and positively by the income level. Yezidis had significantly more children than other ethnic groups and did not have a "religious ban" on voluntary abortion. It has been noted that fertility characteristics of refugee women who migrated to Turkey changed according to their ethnic backgrounds and were sustained in the country they migrated to. Along with harsh living conditions and insufficient access to health services the situation has been observed to pose serious risks on reproductive health.

The knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of Syrian refugee women towards family planning: Sample of Hatay.

This study was conducted with the aim of determining the fertility characteristics of Syrian refugee women and their knowledge, attitudes and behaviours with regard to family planning. The research was designed as a descriptive and cross-sectional type of study. The study group consisted of 389 refugee women in the 15- to 49-year age group who had migrated from Syria to Hatay. Study data were collected between October 2018 and January 2019 using forms containing questions on participants' sociodemographic characteristics, and their knowledge, attitudes and behaviour regarding family planning. Data analysis was performed with the use of frequency, percentage, mean, median, standard deviation values and the chi-square test. Most of the participants reported that they used a family planning method, 47.9% that they preferred traditional methods, 15.2% that the method used was supported by their husbands. Most of the participants had mistaken beliefs about pregnancy and family planning methods. Participants' information on modern family planning methods was affected by their age, income level and social security status; their knowledge of traditional family planning methods was affected by their income level, their family structure and their use of a traditional method. Women's use of family planning was affected by their age, income level and their knowledge of modern and traditional methods. Determination of the knowledge, attitudes and practice of refugee women regarding family planning and establishing the influential factors will enable nurses to make a contribution to the future provision of specific and culturally sensitive care to sick and healthy refugee women.

Conducting operational research in humanitarian settings: is there a shared path for humanitarians, national public health authorities and academics?

In humanitarian contexts, it is a difficult and multi-faceted task to enlist academics, humanitarian actors and health authorities in a collaborative research effort. The lack of research in such settings has been widely described in the past decade, but few have analysed the challenges in building strong and balanced research partnerships. The major issues include considering operational priorities, ethical imperatives and power differentials. This paper analyses in two steps a collaborative empirical endeavour to assess health service utilization by Syrian refugee and Lebanese women undertaken by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and the Harvard François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center.First, based on challenges documented in the literature, we shed light on how we negotiated appropriate research questions, methodologies, bias analyses, resource availability, population specificities, security, logistics, funding, ethical issues and organizational cultures throughout the partnership.Second, we describe how the negotiations required each partner to go outside their comfort zones. For the academics, the drivers to engage included the intellectual value of the collaboration, the readiness of the operational partners to conduct an empirical investigation and the possibility that such work might lead to a better understanding in public health terms of how the response met population needs. For actors responding to the humanitarian crisis (the ICRC and the MOPH), participating in a technical collaboration permitted methodological issues to be worked through in the context of deliberations within the wider epistemic community.We find that when they collaborate, academics, humanitarian actors and health authorities deploy their respective complementarities to build a more comprehensive approach. Barriers such as the lack of uptake of research results or weak links to the existing literature were overcome by giving space to define research questions and develop a longer-term collaboration involving individual and institutional learning. There is the need ahead of time to create balanced decision-making mechanisms, allow for relative financial autonomy, and define organizational responsibilities. Ultimately, mutual respect, trust and the recognition of each other’s expertise formed the basis of an initiative that served to better understand populations affected by conflict and meet their needs.

Psychological Distress among Syrian Refugee Women and a Control Group in an Urban Settlement in Beirut- a Pilot Study.

The Syrian conflict has created approximately five million refugees. Of these, more than one million have settled in Lebanon. This project aimed to determine the prevalence of psychological distress (PD) amongst Syrian refugee mothers compared to a control group of local mothers living in the same informal urban settlement in Beirut. A convenient sample was selected from a primary care center. The General Health Questionnaire-12 items (GHQ-12) was administered to determine PD amongst women who were pregnant within 2years of the study. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Sixty women were enrolled; 35 were Syrian refugees. All women had PD. The mean GHQ-12 scores were 7.5 and 7.2 for the control and Syrian refugee mothers, respectively. When asked about stressors, 91.7% of the women stated poverty. Syrian refugee women had similar PD as women who were not displaced and did not experience direct war related hostilities.

“I Will Stay with Him through Thick and Thin”: Factors Influencing the Incidence and Persistence of Intimate Partner Violence against Syrian Refugee Women in Jordan

This qualitative study examines factors that trigger and perpetuate intimate partner violence (IPV) against Syrian refugee women in Jordan. Interviews (n = 36) were conducted with service providers and Syrian refugee women who are/were in intimate partner violent relationships in Jordan. This study employed the nested ecological model as a conceptual framework. Findings revealed interconnected factors that play a role in fueling IPV: the disruption of cultural codes; the explosion of illegal marriages; the trauma resulting from conflict, flight, and refuge; and Syrian women’s reluctance to report to service providers as well as their reliance on romantic love in times of crisis.

The potential for skills development programmes to empower poverty-affected and refugee women in rural Jordan

ABSTRACT This paper considers the experience of local and Syrian refugee women enrolled on a skills development programme in rural Jordan from a capability perspective. It explores the value of the capability approach as an evaluative framework: one which opposes the dominant econometric lens traditionally used to evaluate skills development interventions. In doing so, it advocates the use of this approach for providing a holistic view of the outcomes of skills development programmes for women, who, in Jordan – as elsewhere in the Global South – are often prevented from participating in the formal labour market, but who may nevertheless stand to gain from skills development interventions. This paper argues that the selected skills development programme in north Jordan contributed significantly to the wellbeing and personal development of the women enrolled. However, it finds that the programme was largely unable to overcome the many barriers to local and Syrian refugee women finding fulfiling employment, as many of them wished to do. It argues that this is indicative of wider socioeconomic challenges in the region which it would be unreasonable to expect a skills development programme to offset and which should not negate the other human development outcomes of the programmes.

Employment integration experiences of Syrian refugee women arriving through Canada’s varied refugee protection programmes

ABSTRACT This article examines the employment integration experiences of Syrian refugee women arriving to Canada through four common refugee streams: government-assisted, private sponsorship, Blended Visa office referral, and as refugee claimants. Drawing on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Syrian refugee women and key informants, we show how differences between streams – eligibility requirements, supports provided, services rendered – facilitate or act as barriers to seeking out and securing employment. The finding suggests that government-assisted refugee women struggled the most when compared with the other refugee women. Particularly, GAR women arrived with part of their families and minimal supports, affecting their mental well-being and job search. Meanwhile, the other refugee women typically arrived with the qualities (language, work experience) needed to integrate and so, were able to choose when, how, and the type of work they secured. Through this study, we propose policy recommendations that should be incorporated within the Canadian refugee system to mediate challenges and promote a positive resettlement experience for all refugees.

“Like a Tree Without Leaves”: Syrian Refugee Women and the Shifting Meaning of Marriage

There is a growing body of feminist scholarship that highlights aspects of agency and empowerment of the refugee woman, mostly through citing examples of women challenging patriarchy and cultural norms. Extending the latter, I use a decolonizing framework to examine how refugee women strive for autonomy and empowerment through acceptingthose norms and utilizingthem strategically. In doing so, I reveal a more complex relationship between agency and victimhood and how they relate to other notions such as empowerment, vulnerability and traditional gender roles. I use the case of Syrian refugee women who marry for refugeto explore how their stories challenge Western liberal feminist views that often stigmatize similar arrangements as exploitation, sex trafficking, and/or forced marriages. The narratives of those women move beyond highlighting instances of agency, resistance, and empowerment as subversion to question the Eurocentric conceptualization of such notions. The objective of this study is three-fold: (a) reporting on and giving context to an under-research phenomenon such as marriage for refuge; (b) rethinking and challenging liberal feminist understanding of concepts such as agency, empowerment, traditional gender roles, and marriage; and (c) making the case for the potential contribution a decolonizing approach could bring to refugee research.

Countering depoliticized representations of Syrian women: memories of dictatorship from pre-war Syria

This article engages in a critical analysis of authoritarian rule in pre-war Syria by examining the accounts of sixty-eight Syrian refugee women who were displaced in different areas of Lebanon in 2014. While participants’ ideas are informed by their experiences of war and refugeehood, an exploration of their memories of the pre-war period reveals that economic welfare is a key determinant to the formation of their political opinions on dictatorship in ‘peace’ time. Drawing on feminist research that endeavours to reposition women in the domain of the political, the article argues that political agency must not be conceived only in terms of political activism but, rather, as a distinctive trait of politically inactive women who live under dictatorship. By using a broader conceptualization of the political that does not confine political subjectivity to the realm of formal and/or grassroots politics, the article seeks to recast political agency on Syrian refugee women whose understandings of the political is often silenced by disempowering orientalist representations.

User and Provider Perspectives on Improving Mental Healthcare for Syrian Refugee Women in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Introduction: Refugees have higher risk of developing mental illness like anxiety, depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as they flee from violence. Women refugees may have unique mental healthcare needs due to their vulnerability to gender-based violence and abuse during flight from war. The research question of this study was what the health system can do better to address the mental healthcare needs of refugee women in Winnipeg. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 Syrian refugee women and 6 service providers/decision makers. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative inductive analysis and coded for themes based on recurring issues. Results: Limited understanding of mental health and illness among refugees, stigma, and the need for culturally competent care were noted by the service providers. System navigation, language, unemployment and safety of family members left behind in Syria were the main concerns of the refugee women. While there are many programs available for refugee women in Winnipeg, lack of collaboration and coordination among providers was identified. Conclusions: This study recommends that service providers use resources developed by UNHCR and Canadian physicians in providing culturally competent care, decision makers take leadership roles in implementing better collaboration among agencies, employers be open in hiring refugees and everyone in the society ensures that the refugee women feel welcomed and included.

Views of Turkish and Syrian Refugee Women Who are from Two Different Cultures on Tubal Ligation

Views of Turkish and Syrian Refugee Women Who are from Two Different Cultures on Tubal Ligation

An Evaluation of the Impact of War on Pregnancy in Syrian Refugee Women: A Retrospective Study

An Evaluation of the Impact of War on Pregnancy in Syrian Refugee Women: A Retrospective Study

Gender Based Violence against Syrian Refugee Women in Turkey

Following the outbreak of war in Syria, many people had to move to neighbouring countries and beyond. Hence Turkey received a large number of Syrians as refugees since 2011. Syrian refugee women faced challenges arising from them being refugees and women. These experiences are not dissimilar to other refugee women’s experiences around the world. This study aimed at analysing the news about Syrian refugee women in Turkish newspapers. Four well established Turkish newspapers with nationwide distribution (i.e. Habertürk, Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet and Internethaber) were screened between 2015 and 2019. It was found that Syrian women refugees faced gender-based violence in Turkey. Their experiences as concubines, and in prostitution as well as sexual assaults were mentioned in the news articles we have analysed.

Women in refuge: Syrian women voicing health sequelae due to war traumatic experiences and displacement challenges

ObjectiveThe Syrian war created a mass exodus of people to neighboring countries. Jordan hosts approximately 1.4 million Syrians who sought refuge and protection. This research represents an effort to understand the subjective narratives of Syrian refugee women's war traumatic experiences and displacement challenges while living in Jordan and the consequences on their physical and mental health. MethodsData gathered between March and June 2014 included 24 in-depth interviews with Syrian refugee women who sought services from humanitarian organizations in Jordan. Interviews were conducted in Arabic and were audio recorded. A team of four researchers translated and transcribed the interviews. Group narrative methodology was utilized to analyze the interviews. ResultsThe study suggests that Syrian refugee women experienced diverse war atrocities including shelling, loss of property, separation from family members, and threats to their lives and their beloved ones, among a few. In Jordan, they reported on multiple displacement challenges, which are perceived as a continuous traumatic experience, as well as somatization. Narratives of women also included sequelae to their physical and mental health due to such stressors. Barriers to obtaining physical and mental health services are discussed, including inadequate medical treatment, lack of mental health services, and stigma on mental health, which might be associated to somatization of mental illnesses. ConclusionIt is crucial that humanitarian organizations and host countries like Jordan bear the responsibility to enhancing accessibility to comprehensive trauma-focused physical and mental health services for Syrian refugees in a culturally and gender sensitive manner.

Change in health perceptions during immigration process a group of Syrian refugee women: analysis within the framework of transition theory of meleis

<b>Purpose:</b> Migration is a complex situational transition that rarely occurs in isolations. Use of the transitions framework allows for recognition of the complex, longitudinal, and iterative components and processes of migration. Refugees experience a long and anduous transition. Refugees may experience significant changes in health status. The study purpose to investigate the change in health perception of refugee women within the framework of transition theory. <br><b>Materials and methods:</b> This study is a qualitative study. Data were collected with a semi-structured interview form at in-depth interviews. Obtained data were analyzed with inductive content analysis. Analysis of interview data provided by thirty Syrian refugee women. <br><b>Results:</b> The refugee women’s changing in health perception were found to comprise the following themes "pre-migration access to health care system and medical practise", " experiences of immigration process", "access to health care system in Turkey and medical practice,” and “change in health perception" and subthemes. <br><b>Conclusions:</b> Health perception for Syrian refugees women is status of well-being or not. Health status of refugees women got worse during immigration process and postmigration process. Because of refugee women in the face of some problems such as language barriers, lack of socio-economic situation, inadequacy of access to health care system all of these cause to be negatively change in health perceptions.

Building a new life and (re)making a family. Young Syrian refugee women in the Netherlands navigating between family and career

This article presents results of a qualitative analysis based on biographic narratives of three young, well-educated women from Syria. They arrived in the Netherlands between 2015 and 2017 in the context of family reunion. The central question is how young Syrian women navigate between two major projects that ask for their agency, being family and work. It is argued that both occupational career development and the building of a family are ‘agentic projects’ that aim to contribute to the establishment of a new life and to regain continuity. The analyses demonstrate that both projects are closely intertwined. Agency emerges as highly relational and intersecting with the women’s position in the life course, timing of life events, ability to adapt career goals to the new situation, and impact of social contexts on family relations.
 Zusammenfassung
 Dieser Artikel stellt die Ergebnisse einer qualitativen Studie vor, welche auf biographischen Erzählungen von drei jungen, gut gebildeten Frauen beruht, die aus Syrien geflüchtet sind. Sie sind im Rahmen der Familienzusammenführung zwischen 2015 und 2017 in die Niederlande gekommen. Das zentrale Anliegen des Artikels ist es zu untersuchen, wie diese jungen syrischen Frauen ihre ‘agency’ einsetzen, um den Anforderungen in zwei wichtigen Bereichen, ihren Familien und bezüglich ihren beruflichen Ambitionen, gerecht zu werden. Sowohl bei der Entwicklung von beruflichen Karriereperspektiven als auch bei der Etablierung eines Familienlebens handelt es sich um Projekte, die sich ‒ so das Argument, das sich aus der Untersuchung ergibt ‒ stark auf die ‘agency’ der Betroffenen beziehen und dazu dienen sollen, ein neues Leben aufzubauen und Kontinuität herzustellen. Die Analysen zeigen, dass diese beiden Projekte miteinander verwoben sind. ‘Agency’ entpuppt sich hier als ein hochgradig relationales Konzept, das eng verknüpft ist mit der jeweiligen Lebenssituation der Individuen, dem Zeitpunkt von wichtigen Lebensereignissen, der Fähigkeit Karriereziele an neue Situationen anzupassen und den Einflüssen des sozialen Umfelds auf die familiären Beziehungen.