Prevalence and predictors of violence among Syrian refugee women resettled in Sweden

• Published in: European journal of public health 2018-11, Vol.28 (suppl_4), p.156
• Main Authors: Emegwa, L, Saboonchi, F, Tinghög, P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggression; Refugees
• ISSN: 1101-1262; 1464-360X; 1464-360X
• DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/cky213.457

Background Refugee women are at more risk of a continuum of violence, pre, during and post flight. After resettlement, increased family conflicts are likely, due to shifts in gender roles and changing family structures. Prevalence estimates, however, remain scarce especially for Syrian refugee women in Europe. Given that exposure to violence is a substantial risk factor for ill health and poor adaptation, this study aims to estimate the prevalence of violence in different phases of flight and associated sociodemographic factors. Methods The study is based on a random sample of 452 Syrian refugee women resettled in Sweden. Exposure to violence was operationalised as having been a victim of torture, physical or sexual violence, pre and during flight; witnessing violence was operationalised as experiencing war at close quarters, witnessing physical violence, or forced separation from loved ones, pre and during flight; family conflicts was operationalised as experiencing distressing conflicts in the family since resettlement. Descriptive analysis were conducted to estimate prevalence and logistic regression to assess associations. Weighted data produced socio-demographically representative estimates. Robust standard errors were used to obtain 95% confidence intervals for all estimates. Results About 25.1% (95% 20.9 – 29.4) of the women were exposed to violence preflight, 7.8% (95% 5.2 – 10.4) were victims during flight. Up to 93.3% (95% 90.7 – 95.9) witnessed violence preflight, 67.2% (95% 62.6 – 71.8) during flight. About 34.2% (95% 29.7 – 38.7) are experiencing distressing family conflicts.Logistic regressions showed no significant difference after controlling for age, education and marital status. Conclusions The magnitude of violence and ongoing family conflicts calls for a closer look at the plight of refugee women.Violence is widespread and not specific to any sociodemographic group, an important finding for healthcare and public health workforce to take note of.