Syrian Women Research Articles

Maternal and infant outcomes of Syrian and Palestinian refugees, Lebanese and migrant women giving birth in a tertiary public hospital in Lebanon: a secondary analysis of an obstetric database

ObjectivesThis study aims to assess whether the characteristics, management and outcomes of women varied between Syrian and Palestinian refugees, migrant women of other nationalities and Lebanese women giving birth at...

Refugee women's pregnancy and childbirth experiences in the US: Examining context through a reproductive justice framework

Maternal health in the United States is an area of immediate concern. The compounded disadvantages and unique global positions of refugee women highlight the need for research that explores the experiences of refugee women during pregnancy and childbirth. The present study examines how contextual factors shape pregnancy and childbirth experiences for Syrian, Afghan, Congolese, and Karen women living in Clarkston, Georgia, US. Qualitative data were collected via focus groups facilitated by community interpreters. We used a reproductive justice framework to center women's desires, needs, and experiences, and to highlight the importance of structural factors in the findings and analysis of this study. Using codebook thematic analysis, three themes were developed: (1) isolation and alienated knowledge, (2) gendered disparities and structural inequities, and (3) community support and precarity. The findings reflect both the diversity and constancy of women's experiences and highlight how the context of the US impacts women's ability to exercise agency during pregnancy and childbirth. Systemic change is needed to improve women's access to tools that increase their capacity to exercise agency both during pregnancy and childbirth, and beyond.

Vaccine Uptake and COVID-19 Frequency in Pregnant Syrian Immigrant Women.

Immigrants have difficulties in the use of essential health services such as vaccinations. Vaccine uptake among pregnant immigrant women is very low. The aim of the study was to examine the vaccination status of pregnant immigrant women who received health services in an immigrant health center (IHC) affiliated to primary health care institutions. The research is a retrospective-designed cross-sectional type of study. The study sample consists of pregnant Syrian women who received health care from the strengthened IHC of a District Health Directorate in Istanbul between August 2020 and 2022. Age, trimesters, number of pregnancies, high-risk pregnancy status, vaccination dates and status against influenza, COVID-19 and tetanus, and vaccine types of COVID-19 were evaluated. The statistical significance level was determined as p < 0.05. None of the pregnant women had received the influenza vaccine. Of the women whose tetanus vaccine data were evaluated, 29.7% had received at least two doses of the tetanus vaccine. Of the pregnant women, 19.4% were vaccinated against COVID-19 with a minimum two doses and 4.2% had a COVID-19 infection during their pregnancy. None of the women with the COVID-19 infection were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The vaccine uptake of pregnant immigrant women is very low. Public health interventions are needed to improve vaccination coverage among disadvantaged groups.

Mental distress links with physical activities, sedentary lifestyle, social support, and sleep problems: A Syrian population cross-sectional study.

Mental diseases are very widespread and difficult to treat, affecting around 12% of the global population in 2019. Since social interaction is crucial to human existence and loneliness has been proven to be a significant predictor of depressive symptoms, it stands to reason that social connection problems would also contribute to depression. Physical inactivity seems to weaken and aggravate insulin tolerance alterations, glucose homeostasis, and plasma triglyceride levels, thereby influencing one's mood and happiness. This suggests that physical inactivity may be a significant risk factor for mental illness. This research contributes to our understanding of the mental health situation in Syria by exploring associations between a set of measurable characteristics that may be adjusted. An online quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted between March and April 2022 in Syria, using a structured questionnaire that assesses data on behaviors of health, health in general, wellbeing, and adult population quality of life. Among 1,224 respondents (371 men and 853 women), women have shown higher levels of mental distress, sleep issues, low engagement in structured activities, and a difficult work environment than men. Women experiencing mental anguish have reported being more sedentary, participating in less scheduled activities, and receiving less social support. There are observable connections between high sedentary time and women experiencing mental distress. The mental health of Syrian women in distress was associated with a lack of participation in both organized activities and physical exercise in their free time. Furthermore, sleep issues and financial troubles were seen in persons with mental diseases of both males and females.

Diasporic Syrian women writers: stories of resilience and survival

ABSTRACT In 2020, Ghada Alatrash and Najat Abed Alsamad noted that, ‘Historically Syrians have written and spoken about exile in their literature, long before the Syrian war began in March of 2011 (p. 4). This paper brings together two Syrian women writers who straddle this epochal moment in Syrian history: Mohja Kahf and Ibtisam Tracy. It seeks to bridge the gap between these writers and to chart new trends in diasporic writing by Syrian women. It argues that bringing Kahf and Tracy into the same frame captures the complex diasporic positioning of contemporary Syrian women writers. This in turn offers new perspectives on transnational and postcolonial criticism, in particular by focusing on gendered resilience in the diaspora through the act of storytelling in solidarity. By bringing into discussion current socio-political issues presented by Syrian women, this paper seeks to challenge the dominant representations of Muslim/Arab women in general and Syrian women in particular.

Assessment Awareness of Breast Cancer Signs, Risk Factors, and Barriers: An Online Cross‑Sectional Study in Syria

Background: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer (BC) is women's most common type of cancer. In LAMICs, breast cancer incidence is low. However, a lack of information about the signs and symptoms of breast cancer potentially results in the disease's progression to life-threatening stages.This study aimed to determine the levels of breast cancer symptom awareness among Syrian women and to identify the variables associated with a high level of awareness.&#x0D; &#x0D; Methods: From 3 September 2022 to 27 September 2022, Syrian women participated in an online cross-sectional survey to measure their knowledge about breast cancer, risk factors, and symptoms. This survey was derived from previous research that included a comprehensive, authorized scale. The admission requirement was 18-year-old or older Syrian women from all Syrian governorates. The questionnaire was divided into two portions; the first component included sociodemographic characteristics. Based on the original BCAM scale, the second portion assessed the participant's knowledge of breast cancer symptoms, risk factors, and obstacles. Using the IBM SPSS V. 28.0 software, descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed on the data.&#x0D; &#x0D; Results: Among 1305 study participants, the mean age and standard deviation of the individuals were 30.7 and 11.2, respectively. Students constituted almost three-quarters (75.2%) of the study respondents. The average level of knowledge about risk factors was higher among women with chronic diseases (Mean = 4.44, SD = 2.176), whereas jobless people had a higher average level of information regarding obstacles than other subgroups of practical circumstances. In addition, single women scored higher on the barrier comprehension scale than other marital status groups (mean=3.34, SD=2.32). Only two variables, including age and educational level, were statistically significant in predicting an acceptable degree of knowledge of the risk factors for breast cancer. Participants with a PhD were more aware than other educational subgroups (P-value 0.05; OR =6.186). Participants with a PhD. are projected to be 6.18 times more aware of breast cancer risk factors than those with lower levels of education. Women with chronic conditions were 1.84 times more likely than others to be aware of breast cancer barriers. &#x0D; &#x0D; Conclusion: Our findings indicate that Syrian females have a poor to moderate knowledge of breast cancer symptoms, risk factors, and barriers. It is proposed that more breast cancer awareness campaigns be conducted and that yearly screening programs be improved to combat the late detection of this illness. Social media and television might be effective venues for raising awareness of breast self-examination and early identification of symptoms.

A comparison of the rates of and indications for cesarean delivery between Syrian refugee women and Turkish women.

The aim of this study was to compare the rates of and indications for cesarean delivery among Syrian refugee women and local Turkish women. The study included 74,864 pregnant women, of whom 52,145 were Turkish and 22,719 were Syrian refugee women and who gave birth at our hospital between January 2013 and December 2021. In this study, the pregnant women were divided into two groups: Syrian refugee women and Turkish women, and primary cesarean delivery rates were calculated separately for each group. Cesarean delivery rates for Syrian refugee women and Turkish women were compared separately for each year. Indications for cesarean delivery were determined separately for each group and compared between the groups. The overall cesarean delivery rate was 56% among Turkish women and 32% among Syrian women (p<0.05). The primary cesarean delivery rate was 18.4% for local Turkish women versus 10.7% among Syrian refugee women (p<0.05). The most common indication for cesarean delivery among both Syrian refugee women and local Turkish women was previous cesarean delivery, followed by acute fetal distress and cephalopelvic disproportion. Indications for cesarean delivery were similar for Syrian refugee women and local Turkish women, but both overall and primary cesarean delivery rates were higher among local Turkish women compared with Syrian refugee women.

Title: The effects of demographic transformation due to refugee migration in Turkey on maternal and neonatal outcomes Running Title: Syrian pregnancies and their adverse outcomes

Objective: This research analyzes the obstetric and neonatal outcomes of Syrian and Turkish pregnant women. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 1,823 pregnant Turkish and Syrian women aged 13 to 47 who gave birth at a tertiary care facility in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. Between September 2020 and August 2021, 940 Turkish and 883 Syrian refugees (SYR) pregnant women participated in the study. The groups were compared for demographic data, obstetric outcomes, and neonatal features. Results: The maternal age distribution for SYR includes younger ages (p&lt;0,001). The literacy status among Syrians is lower than that of Turks (p&lt;0,001). Syrian pregnant women have a lower prevalence of cesarean section (CS); they have a greater rate of first spontaneous vaginal delivery (fSVD) and spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) than Turkish pregnant women (p&lt;0,001). Amniotic membrane rupture is more prevalent among pregnant Syrian women (p=0,007). APGAR scores differ by nationality (p=0.004). There is a significant difference in maternal hemoglobin median values (g/dL) according to nationality (p&lt;0.001). There is a substantial difference between the birth weights of newborns with low birth weight (LBW) (1500 ≤ - &lt;2500 grams) and those with 2500 grams or more in both groups (p&lt;0.001). Conclusion: There is a strong correlation between education and prenatal care utilization. As women's education levels increase, the rates of prenatal care also increase. Antenatal care is the most valuable and effective method for preventing adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes.

Comparison of hepatitis B surface antigen, anti-hepatitis B surface, and anti-hepatitis C virus prevalence in Syrian refugee pregnant women and Turkish pregnant women

In this study, we aimed to determine and compare hepatitis B surface antigen level, anti-hepatitis B surface, and anti-hepatitis C virus positivity in Turkish pregnant women and Syrian refugee pregnant women residing in Turkey. The study was conducted on Syrian refugee pregnant women aged 15-45 years and Turkish pregnant women who applied to state hospital's gynecology and obstetrics outpatient clinics between April 30, 2012, and April 30, 2022. In our study, 136,376 pregnant women (104,629 Turkish and 31,747 Syrian) tested for hepatitis B surface antigen, 72,035 pregnant women (53,070 Turkish and 18,965 Syrian) tested for anti-hepatitis B surface, and 120,611 pregnant women (92,514 Turkish and 28,097 Syrian) tested for anti-hepatitis C virus were included. The patients were divided into six groups for hepatitis B surface antigen, anti-hepatitis B surface, and anti-hepatitis C virus results based on their age: <20 years, 20-24 years, 25-29 years, 30-34 years, 35-39 years, and >40 years. For each age group, the results of Syrian refugee pregnant women and Turkish pregnant women were compared. Hepatitis B surface antigen positivity and anti-hepatitis B surface positivity were significantly higher in Turkish pregnant women compared to Syrian refugee pregnant women. Anti-hepatitis C virus positivity was significantly higher in Syrian refugee pregnant women compared to Turkish pregnant women. Based on the available data, we think that hepatitis B surface antigen, anti-hepatitis B surface, and anti-hepatitis C virus tests should be done routinely for pregnant women. Raising awareness among Syrian refugees about the hepatitis B virus vaccine as well as encouraging them to be vaccinated may reduce the negative impact of migration.

Assessing Syrian women's knowledge of breast cancer risk factors, warning signs, and barriers to preventive measures: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundThis study aims to investigate the knowledge of Syrian women about breast cancer risk factors, warning signals, and barriers. Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide and the leading cause of cancer death among women. It develops when cells in the breast tissue grow uncontrollably, forming a tumor that can spread to other parts of the body. Materials and Methods: This survey was conducted online from September 3 to September 27, 2022, and focused on Syrian women over the age of 18. It was divided into two sections, one focusing on sociodemographic characteristics and the other on breast cancer risk factors, warning signals, and barriers. Results: This study found that the majority of the 1305 participants had inadequate knowledge of breast cancer risk factors, warning signs, and barriers. Those with higher levels of education, such as Ph.D. students, had the highest overall scores. The sample was mostly made up of housewives, married women, and women with moderate monthly incomes. Conclusion: This research found that Syrian women have inadequate knowledge about breast cancer, including risk factors, warning signs, and barriers. To reduce mortality rates, increase survival rates, and improve early diagnosis, local health organizations should provide awareness courses to emphasize the importance of annual breast exams.

Ambiguous loss of home: Syrian refugees and the process of losing and remaking home

This constructivist-interpretive study examines social-relational dimensions of change and loss following experiences of political terror, war and forced migration from the perspective of Syrian refugee men and women who were presently living in Jordan (n=31). A process model derived from the analysis theorizes four dimensions of ambiguous loss (safety and security, social connections and identities, connection to place, and dreams and imagined future) and to capture the cyclical process of losing and remaking a sense of home in displacement. Our findings underscore a more complex set of processes that remain outside the array of supports and services provided by many current practices and policies with displaced populations generally, and Syrian refugees specifically. Thus, the findings highlight the need for ecological, integrative policies, interventions and services that support refugees’ attempts to remake the multifaceted and stable phenomenon that is home as they transition into new communities.

SOCIAL EXCLUSION OF WOMEN REFUGEES IN PUBLIC IMAGINATION: UNDERREPRESENTATION AND DEPERSONALISATION

This paper studies the news images of Syrian women refugees and the representational practices employed in them to question how these portraying practices position women refugees, and how they actually act as ways of socially excluding them in the host community. Analysed are the newspaper photographs of Syrian women refugees published in top-selling four Turkish newspapers in 2015. Using a content analysis fed by visual analysis, the ways of visually portraying women refugees is studied by investigating the representational elements and practices in the images, which are subject, theme, camera distance, camera angle and location. The findings reveal that Syrian women refugees are underrepresented and in the rare cases of their appearance, the way they are portrayed position them as distant, passive and depersonalised subjects as part of the masses. The underrepresentation and depersonalisation of women refugees, who are among the vulnerable women group 1) erase the individual life stories and varied lived experiences of women refugees from public imagination and deny the female refugee agency, 2) prevent the emergence of the public talk on the women refugee problems, which in turn 3) prevent the formation of a social understanding and empathy towards women refugees. Thus, it is argued that the ways in which Syrian women refugees are portrayed in the media act as barriers for their social inclusion.

Gender roles among Syrian refugees in resettlement contexts: Revisiting empowerment of refugee women and needs of refugee men

This study focuses on the impact of resettlement contexts on gender roles among Syrian refugees in Turkey and the United States. Four semi-structured group interviews (N = 25) were conducted to understand how Syrian refugee women and men recast gender roles in their new environments, find new ways to adapt, and exercise agency. Gender roles are rearranged in culturally meaningful ways that do not necessarily follow commonly-held assumptions regarding the process of empowerment, particularly the view that paid employment is the major path to agency and freedom from oppression for refugee women. Findings emphasize the roles of local policies, resources, and supports in shaping gender dynamics and suggest that contextual factors, culturally attained gender roles, and lived experiences must be recognized to develop gender-sensitive interventions for Syrians. The findings also support interventions that are inclusive of men, especially young single men, and those that maximize social opportunities and eliminate discrimination.

Confronting gendered constructions of refugee deservingness and representations: Syrian refugee women strategising for humanitarian aid in Turkey

ABSTRACT This study shows how Syrian refugee women living in Ankara cope with their systematically enforced dependency on humanitarian aid through individual and collective agency as they negotiate their inclusion into categories of deservingness and attempt to maintain this inclusion. We argue that the gendered discourses used to delineate deservingness categories in the humanitarian field clash heavily with the portrayal of Syrian refugees in Turkish public discourse. Our qualitative data demonstrate how notions in the humanitarian field about women’s role in the family as nurturing homemakers, assumptions about their innate docility as vulnerable refugees and the contrasting portrayals in Turkish society of Syrian refugee women as sexualised threats to the Turkish family shape their agentive negotiations and subsequently lead to multiple tensions. We also highlight how the centrality of gender in the discursive framing of refugees in Turkey produces the idealised refugee in the figure of the widowed refugee mother. By problematising how refugee women’s agency play out, we intervene in the discussion about the gendered terrains of refugeehood and provide empirical weight for the exploration of the paradoxes in the humanitarian field that refugee women struggle to resolve.

Collective safety-making as empowerment in a women and girl safe space in Lebanon

The gendered displacement experiences of Syrian women and girls have been a significant focus of both the academic and development and humanitarian gaze. In response, humanitarian and development organisations have increasingly implemented women and girl safe spaces. Yet, little is known about Syrian women’s experiences within them, nor the structures and practice shaping those experiences. Drawing on feminist ethnographic fieldwork in a women and girl safe space in the Beqaa valley in Lebanon, I explore Syrian women’s experiences of at-homeness, disclosure, sharing, and alternative futures in relation to the various safety-making practices and structures in the women and girl safe space. My findings highlight the potential for women and girl safe spaces to counteract the everyday isolation and hardship forcibly displaced women face, as well as helping to build the emotional safety and community that they need to navigate forced displacement and strive towards transformative change. I conclude that additional research on the practices and structures that enable collective safety-making and empowerment is imperative.

Unravelling Humanitarian Narratives

International humanitarian actors, such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and United Nations agencies, often focus on gender norm change when conducting gender analysis among refugees and internally displaced persons. Dominant humanitarian narratives about gender in research reports, assessments and technical guidance reveal an underlying belief that displacement is causative – an external, intervening force. In such analysis, colonial and neoliberal ideologies may influence how refugees’ lives are represented, resulting in depictions of lack of modernity, tradition and culture as overarching (yet ill-defined) forces, and women and girls as vulnerable by default. Such analysis is frequently ahistorical, presented without analysis of the pre-displacement situation. This paper explores and challenges humanitarian narratives about gender norm change during displacement. It is based on feminist ethnographic research in Jordan with Syrian women and men as well as interviews with humanitarian workers. The paper demonstrates that assumptions about lack of empowerment of Syrian women and men may be misguided, identifying both subtle and more overt forms of Syrian women’s and men’s resistance’ to expected norms. It urges humanitarian actors to use ‘resistance’ as an alternative to analysing ‘change’, recognise heterogeneity within populations, resist ‘rapid’ data collection, challenge paternalistic and colonial stereotypes, and reflect complexity in analysis.

The Reality and the Challenges of the Syrian Women refugees working in the Jordanian Society

This study aims to identify the reality and challenges faced by the Syrian women refugees working in the Jordanian society by highlighting the following aspects: knowledge of the living conditions of the working Syrian women refugees, and identifying the main social, cultural, economic, legal and practical challenges facing the Syrian women refugee workers. The descriptive analytical approach that is based on the intentional sampling method was used, and a sample of 120 Syrian women refugees, , working in Irbid governorate, was designed for identification, which was chosen in the intended manner in a snowball-rolling way. The findings showthat Syrian refugee women face economic challenges to a high degree, as well as social, cultural, and legal challenges, and challenges inherent to the work environment in a moderate degree.

Using Facebook advertising data to describe the socio-economic situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

While the fighting in the Syrian civil war has mostly stopped, an estimated 5.6 million Syrians remain living in neighboring countries. Of these, an estimated 1.5 million are sheltering in Lebanon. Ongoing efforts by organizations such as UNHCR to support the refugee population are often ineffective in reaching those most in need. According to UNHCR's 2019 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees Report (VASyR), only 44% of the Syrian refugee families eligible for multipurpose cash assistance were provided with help, as the others were not captured in the data. In this project, we are investigating the use of non-traditional data, derived from Facebook advertising data, for population level vulnerability assessment. In a nutshell, Facebook provides advertisers with an estimate of how many of its users match certain targeting criteria, e.g., how many Facebook users currently living in Beirut are "living abroad," aged 18-34, speak Arabic, and primarily use an iOS device. We evaluate the use of such audience estimates to describe the spatial variation in the socioeconomic situation of Syrian refugees across Lebanon. Using data from VASyR as ground truth, we find that iOS device usage explains 90% of the out-of-sample variance in poverty across the Lebanese governorates. However, evaluating predictions at a smaller spatial resolution also indicate limits related to sparsity, as Facebook, for privacy reasons, does not provide audience estimates for fewer than 1,000 users. Furthermore, comparing the population distribution by age and gender of Facebook users with that of the Syrian refugees from VASyR suggests an under-representation of Syrian women on the social media platform. This work adds to growing body of literature demonstrating the value of anonymous and aggregate Facebook advertising data for analysing large-scale humanitarian crises and migration events.

Comparison of the Pandemic Experiences of British and Syrian Old Women Living Alone in Turkey

The article highlights the importance of examining the explanatory contributions of migration status, social isolation, and perceived social support in studying the impact of the pandemic on older immigrant women’s experiences of loneliness and stigmatization. In this study, the co-researchers interviewed 15 Syrian women in Gaziantep and 6 British women in Muğla using in-depth interviews and observational techniques. It suggests that loneliness is experienced differently by older immigrant women depending on their position such as ethnicity, faith, class. It also shows that individualistic and collectivistic views of life lead to differences in the experience and perception of loneliness and social isolation during the Covid 19 process. The intersection of factors such as gender, ethnicity, and immigration led to different patterns of stigmatization, especially among Syrian immigrant women. Recognizing that the pandemic is not only a health crisis but also a social crisis, the study provides insights into the manifestations that experiences at the intersection of age, femininity, and immigration can and do take on during social crises.

Perceptions on a mobile health intervention to improve maternal child health for Syrian refugees in Turkey: Opportunities and challenges for end-user acceptability.

Mobile health (mhealth) technology presents an opportunity to address many unique challenges refugee populations face when accessing healthcare. A robust body of evidence supports the use of mobile phone-based reminder platforms to increase timely and comprehensive access to health services. Yet, there is a dearth of research in their development for displaced populations, as well as refugee perspectives in design processes to improve effective adoptions of mhealth interventions. This study aimed to explore healthcare barriers faced by Syrian refugee women in Turkey, and their perceptions of a maternal-child health mobile application designed to provide antenatal care and vaccine services. These findings guided development of a framework for enhancing acceptability of mobile health applications specific to refugee end-users. Syrian refugee women who were pregnant or had at least one child under the age of 2 years old at the time of recruitment (n = 14) participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews. Participants had the opportunity to directly interact with an operational maternal-child health mobile application during the interview. Using a grounded theory approach, we identified critical factors and qualities mhealth developers should consider when developing user-friendly applications for refugees. It was observed that a refugee's perception of the mobile health application's usability was heavily influenced by past healthcare experiences and the contextual challenges they face while accessing healthcare. The in-depth interviews with refugee end-users identified that data security, offline capability, clear-user directions, and data retrievability were critical qualities to build into mobile health applications. Among the features included in the maternal-child health application, participants most valued the childhood vaccination reminder and health information features. Furthermore, the application's multi-lingual modes (Arabic, Turkish, and English) strengthened the application's usability among Syrian refugee populations living in Turkey. The inclusion of refugee perceptions in mhealth applications offers unique developer insights for building more inclusive and effective tools for vulnerable populations. Basic upfront discussions of the mobile application's health goals and its personal value to the user may improve their long-term use. Further prospective research is needed on retention and use of mobile health applications for refugee women and other displaced populations.