Munich Medical Research School (MMRS), Medical Faculty of the University of Munich (LMU), 80802, Munich, Germany.
Department of Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology, University of Göttingen, 37073, Göttingen, Germany.
Reprod Health. 2021 Jun 24;18(1):130. doi: 10.1186/s12978-021-01178-9.
The war in Syria caused the forced displacement of millions of Syrians to neighboring countries. Lebanon is the host country with the largest overall number of Syrian refugees per capita. Adolescent refugee girls experience a unique level of vulnerability during human emergencies and are at increased risk of suffering from poor sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes. We conducted an exploratory qualitative study to learn about the SRH perceptions and experiences of refugee adolescent girls living in Bourj Hammoud, an urban setting in Lebanon.
We employed a qualitative design with eight focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted with 40 Syrian Arab and Syrian Kurdish adolescent girls between January and March 2020. Every FGD consisted of five participants aged 13 to 17 years. A semi-structured guide was used covering multiple themes: menstruation, puberty, SRH awareness, and sexual harassment. FGDs were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis.
The participants discussed adolescent girls' health and named six elements of good health, such as healthy activities and self-protection. The majority of the FGD participants reported a lack of awareness about menstruation when they experienced it for the first time and the social stigma associated with menstruation. When defining puberty, they indicated its social link to a girl's readiness for marriage and her need to become cautious about sexual harassment. Most FGD participants had very poor knowledge of the female reproductive system. Mothers were the most approached persons to receive information on SRH issues; however, the girls indicated a wish to receive advice from specialists in a comfortable and private atmosphere. All the girls reported that either they themselves, or an acquaintance, had experienced some type of sexual harassment. The girls rarely reported those incidents due to fear of being blamed or subjected to mobility restrictions, or forced to drop out of school.
The findings show the refugee girls need for satisfactory knowledge on SRH issues and interventions to prevent sexual and gender-based violence that take into consideration the complexity of urban settings.
叙利亚战争导致数以百万计的叙利亚人被迫逃往邻国。黎巴嫩是收容叙利亚难民人数最多的国家。在人类紧急情况下，青少年难民女孩经历了独特的脆弱程度，并且更有可能遭受不良性健康和生殖健康（SRH）结果的影响。我们进行了一项探索性定性研究，以了解生活在黎巴嫩城市布尔杰哈姆德的难民少女的 SRH 认知和体验。
我们采用定性设计，于 2020 年 1 月至 3 月期间进行了 8 次焦点小组讨论（FGD），共有 40 名阿拉伯叙利亚和叙利亚库尔德青少年难民参加。每个 FGD 由 5 名年龄在 13 至 17 岁之间的参与者组成。使用半结构化指南涵盖多个主题：月经、青春期、SRH 意识和性骚扰。对 FGD 进行转录和分析采用主题分析。
参与者讨论了少女的健康，并命名了健康的六项要素，例如健康的活动和自我保护。大多数 FGD 参与者报告说，当他们第一次经历月经时，他们对月经缺乏认识，并且与月经有关的社会耻辱感。当定义青春期时，他们指出了它与女孩准备结婚和她需要对性骚扰保持谨慎的社会联系。大多数 FGD 参与者对女性生殖系统的了解非常差。母亲是最接近的人来获得关于 SRH 问题的信息；然而，女孩们表示希望在舒适和私密的环境中接受专家的建议。所有女孩都报告说，要么是她们自己，要么是熟人，经历过某种类型的性骚扰。由于担心受到指责或受到行动限制，或被迫辍学，女孩们很少报告这些事件。
研究结果表明，难民女孩需要对 SRH 问题有令人满意的了解，并需要采取干预措施，以防止性暴力和基于性别的暴力，同时要考虑到城市环境的复杂性。
