TY - JOUR
T1 - Sexual and reproductive health factors associated with child, early and forced marriage and partnerships among refugee youth in a humanitarian setting in Uganda
T2 - Mixed methods findings
AU - Loutet, Miranda G.
AU - Logie, Carmen H.
AU - Okumu, Moses
AU - Berry, Isha
AU - Lukone, Simon O.
AU - Kisubi, Nelson
AU - McAlpine, Alyssa
AU - Mwima, Simon
AU - Kyambadde, Peter
N1 - Ethical oversight for the study was provided through the Mildmay Uganda Research Ethics Committee (REF 0212-2019), Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (SS 5273), and the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board (Ref: 37981).
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Preventing early and forced marriage is a global priority, however, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) among youth remains understudied in humanitarian settings. This study examined child, early and forced marriage and partnership (CEFMP) among young refugees in Bidi Bidi refugee settlement, Uganda, and associations with SRH outcomes among young women. This mixed-methods study involved a qualitative phase with young (16-24 years) sexual violence survivors (n=58), elders (n=8) and healthcare providers (n=10), followed by a quantitative phase among refugee youth (16-24 years; n=120) during which sociodemographic and SRH data were collected. We examined SRH outcome differences by CEFMP using Fisher’s exact test. Qualitative data showed that CEFMP was a significant problem facing refugee young women driven by stigma, gender norms and poverty. Among youth refugee survey participants, nearly one-third (31.7%) experienced CEFMP (57.9% women, 42.1% men). Among women in CEFMP compared to those who were not, a significantly higher proportion reported forced pregnancy (50.0% vs. 18.4%, p-value=0.018), forced abortion (45.4% vs. 7.0%, p-value=0.002), and missed school due to sexual violence (94.7% vs. 63.0%, p-value=0.016). This study illustrates the need for innovative community-engaged interventions to end CEFMP in humanitarian contexts in order to achieve sexual and reproductive health and rights for youth.
AB - Preventing early and forced marriage is a global priority, however, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) among youth remains understudied in humanitarian settings. This study examined child, early and forced marriage and partnership (CEFMP) among young refugees in Bidi Bidi refugee settlement, Uganda, and associations with SRH outcomes among young women. This mixed-methods study involved a qualitative phase with young (16-24 years) sexual violence survivors (n=58), elders (n=8) and healthcare providers (n=10), followed by a quantitative phase among refugee youth (16-24 years; n=120) during which sociodemographic and SRH data were collected. We examined SRH outcome differences by CEFMP using Fisher’s exact test. Qualitative data showed that CEFMP was a significant problem facing refugee young women driven by stigma, gender norms and poverty. Among youth refugee survey participants, nearly one-third (31.7%) experienced CEFMP (57.9% women, 42.1% men). Among women in CEFMP compared to those who were not, a significantly higher proportion reported forced pregnancy (50.0% vs. 18.4%, p-value=0.018), forced abortion (45.4% vs. 7.0%, p-value=0.002), and missed school due to sexual violence (94.7% vs. 63.0%, p-value=0.016). This study illustrates the need for innovative community-engaged interventions to end CEFMP in humanitarian contexts in order to achieve sexual and reproductive health and rights for youth.
KW - Refugee
KW - adolescent
KW - child marriage
KW - early marriage
KW - forced marriage
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144451407&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.29063/ajrh2022/v26i12s.8
DO - 10.29063/ajrh2022/v26i12s.8
M3 - Article
C2 - 37585162
AN - SCOPUS:85144451407
SN - 1118-4841
VL - 26
SP - 66
EP - 77
JO - African Journal of Reproductive Health
JF - African Journal of Reproductive Health
IS - 12
ER -