Policy Brief: Refugee Women’s Experiences of Maternal Healthcare Services in Türkiye

Abstract

We live in times of unprecedented mass migration at the international level. The cross-border movements of people take a form of forced migration which is a humanitarian and human rights issue. Forced displacement of people creates challenges and increases vulnerabilities as a result of humanitarian needs. The basic needs of refugees, such as healthcare, are compromised by the absence of capabilities to access and/or receive care in the host countries. The root causes of this issue are multi-faceted and may stem from the refugees’ status, cultural background, societal positioning and structure of the host country’s health system. The ecological model to analyse the experiences of refugee women’s healthcare system demonstrates the challenges produced within a mixture of interactions at macro, meso and micro levels of social and political determinants. A precarious and temporary legal status of refugee women coupled with a lack of economic means impacts their spatial interactions with host institutions for receiving health care in the host countries. The Brief sheds light on this issue through an intersectional empirical study of refugee women’s lived experiences of maternal care arguing that it is a complex process comprising a multilayered form of relationship with primary, secondary and tertiary health services. The policy brief provides an analytical and methodological framework for: addressing the negative impacts of forced migration on refugee women; and uncovering the significance of the ‘rights’ and ‘entitlements’ (or ‘lack of’) of refugee women in the eyes of healthcare professionals in receiving basic healthcare in Türkiye. The Policy Brief transcends temporary solutions and explains why refugee women’s access to health care should also be framed within human rights and an ecological model for robust management of health provision to refugees; and why long-term structural solutions can benefit both vulnerable refugee populations and host societies. The Brief develops recommendations for improving strategies to tackle the societal and structural challenges that hinder maternal care access and provision for refugees. The proposed recommendations aim to enhance quality health provision by breaking the barriers between refugees and health providers; a holistic model of integration of refugees whether it is temporary or permanent; and generating space for interactions to increase the health literacy of refugee women.