Abstract
Abstract
Background
Migration and involuntary displacement of children and young people have recently become common features of many African countries due to widespread poverty, rapid urbanization, joblessness, and instability that motivate them to seek livelihoods away from their places of origin. With limited education and skills, children become vulnerable socioeconomically, thereby exposing themselves to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) risks.
Methods
Against this background, the authors undertook a scoping review of the existing literature between January and June 2019 to highlight current knowledge on SRH of African migrant and refugee children. Twenty-two studies that met the inclusion criteria were reviewed.
Results
The results identified overcrowding and sexual exploitation of children within refugee camps where reproductive health services are often limited and underutilized. They also reveal language barriers as key obstacles towards young migrants’ access to SRH information and services because local languages used to deliver these services are alien to the migrants. Further, cultural practices like genital cutting, which survived migration could have serious reproductive health implications for young migrants. A major gap identified is about SRH risk factors of unaccompanied migrant minors, which have received limited study, and calls for more quantitative and qualitative SRH studies on unaccompanied child migrants. Studies should also focus on the different dimensions of SRH challenges among child migrants differentiated by gender, documented or undocumented, within or across national borders, and within or outside refugee camps to properly inform and situate policies, keeping in mind the economic motive and spatial displacement of children as major considerations.
Conclusion
The conditions that necessitate economic-driven migration of children will continue to exist in sub-Saharan Africa. This will provide fertile grounds for child migration to continue to thrive, with diverse sexual and reproductive health risks among the child migrants. There is need for further quantitative and qualitative research on child migrants’ sexual and reproductive health experiences paying special attention to their differentiation by gender, documented or undocumented, within or across national borders and within or outside refugee camps.
Funder
Worldwide Universities Network
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Obstetrics and Gynecology,Reproductive Medicine
Reference32 articles.
1. Blum R, Bastos FL, Kabiru CW, Le LC. Adolescent health in the 21st century. Lancet. 2012. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60407-3.
2. UNFPA. Programme of Action Adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 5–13 September 1994. United Nations Population Fund, New York (2004). https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/event-pdf/PoA_en.pdf. Accessed 12 Oct 2020.
3. He D, Zhou Y, Ji N, Wu S, Wang Z, Decat P, Moyer E, Minkauskienne M, Pang C, Cheng Y. Study on sexual and reproductive health behaviors of unmarried female migrants in China. J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2012. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1447-0756.2011.01753.x.
4. Save the Children. Adolescents in transition in the Horn of Africa. (2018). https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/node/13375/pdf/adolescents_in_transition_in_the_horn_of_africa.pdf. Accessed 12 Oct 2020.
5. Arksey H, O’Malley L. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol. 2005. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364557032000119616.
Cited by
13 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献