Continuum of sexual and gender-based violence risks among Syrian refugee women and girls in Lebanon

Abstract

Background: A myriad of factors including socioeconomic hardships impact refugees, with females being additionally exposed to various forms of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The aim of this qualitative analysis was to understand and to provide new insight into the experiences of SGBV among Syrian refugee women and girls in Lebanon. Methods: The data are gained from a larger mixed-methods study, investigating the experiences of Syrian refugee girls in Lebanon, using an iPad and the data collection tool, SenseMaker®. The SenseMaker survey intentionally did not ask direct questions about experiences of SGBV but instead enabled stories about SGBV to become apparent from a wide range of experiences in the daily lives of Syrian girls. For this analysis, all first-person stories by female respondents about experiences of SGBV were included in a thematic analysis as well as a random selection of male respondents who provided stories about the experiences of Syrian girls in Lebanon. Results: In total, 70 of the 327 first person stories from female respondents and 42 of the 159 stories shared by male respondents included dialogue on SGBV. While experiences of sexual harassment were mainly reported by women and girls, male respondents were much more likely to talk explicitly about sexual exploitation. Due to different forms of SGBV risks in public, unmarried girls were at high risk of child marriage, whereas married girls more often experienced some form of IPV and/or DV. In abusive relationships, some girls and women continued to face violence as they sought divorces and attempted to flee unhealthy situations. Conclusions: This study contributes to existing literature by examining SGBV risks and experiences for refugees integrated into their host community, and also by incorporating the perceptions of men. Our findings shed light on the importance of recognizing the impact of SGBV on the family as a whole, in addition to each of the individual members and supports considering the cycle of SGBV not only across the woman's lifespan but also across generations. Gendered differences in how SGBV was discussed may have implications for the design of future research focused on SGBV.

Assessment of sexual and reproductive health knowledge and awareness among single unmarried women living in Lebanon: a cross-sectional study

“…This confusion is possibly due to the marginalization of the process of puberty [ 44 ] , where females stated they had limited knowledge and comprehension about menstruation before reaching menarche [ 45 ]. This shows the lack of awareness of parents, particularly the mothers who were the most common source of knowledge in several studies regarding teaching their daughters about menstruation [ 45 – 48 ]. The figures in the aforementioned studies were similar to those presented in this study.…”

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

“…The ASIST-GBV, a form of anonymous self-administered GBV survey, has been used to screen for GBV within humanitarian settings [ 31 ]. The study by Roupetz, Garbern [ 32 ] elaborated on their measure of using a SenseMaker survey – a self-administrated survey that does not ask explicit questions on GBV but instead allow for narratives to allow GBV experiences to become apparent. These methods of data collection have been considered to be largely successful thus far by the cited studies.…”

“…Keygnaert et a.l [ 37 ] found that within the context of asylum-seeker arrivals into EU reception centers, the most common perpetrators of GBV are (ex-)partners and asylum professionals. 3 Delving more into IPV, female irregular migrants, asylum-seekers, and rural-to-urban households seem particularly vulnerable to IPV due to the stresses induced by migration on the perpetrators [ 32 , 53 – 56 ].…”

Mental health of clinic-attending Syrian refugee women in Jordan: associations between social ecological risks factors and mental health symptoms

“…Interpersonal risk factors include relationships with others that can increase the odds of a mental health conditions. Existing literature highlight refugee women to be vulnerable to intimate partner violence (IPV) [ 21 , 25 ], making IPV a serious health and human rights problem at the interpersonal level. IPV is estimated to affect 30% of women during their lifetime [ 26 ], and is associated with increased risk of mental health conditions [ 27 ].…”