Socio-Cultural Barriers Influencing Unplanned Pregnancy in Mugombwa Refugee Camp, Rwanda: Female Adolescents’ Perspectives
Female adolescents experience exacerbated vulnerability to the effects of gender inequities in refugee settings, where there is often a lack of protective societal structures and the politicization of their access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, which result in an increase in teena...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Adolescents |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/3/2/19 |
| _version_ | 1797596645157765120 |
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| author | Autumn Eastman Oluwatomi Olunuga Tayechalem Moges |
| author_facet | Autumn Eastman Oluwatomi Olunuga Tayechalem Moges |
| author_sort | Autumn Eastman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Female adolescents experience exacerbated vulnerability to the effects of gender inequities in refugee settings, where there is often a lack of protective societal structures and the politicization of their access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, which result in an increase in teenage pregnancy as compared to non-refugee settings. In the Mugombwa refugee camp in Rwanda, there were 47 adolescent childbirths in 2021 alone. This study explores the perspectives of female adolescents on the barriers underpinning adolescent unplanned pregnancy in the Mugombwa refugee camp. Focus group discussions were conducted with 16 adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 19. The findings were analyzed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Barriers at the individual, interpersonal, communal, and institutional levels underpin unplanned adolescent pregnancy. Socio-cultural barriers of poverty and transactional sex, poor knowledge of contraceptives, negative peer influence, sexual coercion, poor parent–adolescent communication, negative health worker attitudes, selective SRH community outreach, and the inaccessibility of contraceptives emerged as themes influencing the sexual behavior of adolescents and unplanned pregnancies. The socio-cultural barriers and systemic facilitators of gender inequality associated with being an adolescent female in a refugee camp must be prioritized to alleviate adolescent unplanned pregnancy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:54:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b42af6f74bb44dc59e556ba8dca1790f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-7051 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:54:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Adolescents |
| spelling | doaj.art-b42af6f74bb44dc59e556ba8dca1790f2023-11-18T08:49:20ZengMDPI AGAdolescents2673-70512023-04-013225927710.3390/adolescents3020019Socio-Cultural Barriers Influencing Unplanned Pregnancy in Mugombwa Refugee Camp, Rwanda: Female Adolescents’ PerspectivesAutumn Eastman0Oluwatomi Olunuga1Tayechalem Moges2Partners in Health Liberia, Monrovia 1000, LiberiaHACEY Health Initiative, Lagos 101283, NigeriaGender, Sexual and Reproductive Health Masters Program, University of Global Health Equity, Kigali P.O. Box 6955, RwandaFemale adolescents experience exacerbated vulnerability to the effects of gender inequities in refugee settings, where there is often a lack of protective societal structures and the politicization of their access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, which result in an increase in teenage pregnancy as compared to non-refugee settings. In the Mugombwa refugee camp in Rwanda, there were 47 adolescent childbirths in 2021 alone. This study explores the perspectives of female adolescents on the barriers underpinning adolescent unplanned pregnancy in the Mugombwa refugee camp. Focus group discussions were conducted with 16 adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 19. The findings were analyzed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Barriers at the individual, interpersonal, communal, and institutional levels underpin unplanned adolescent pregnancy. Socio-cultural barriers of poverty and transactional sex, poor knowledge of contraceptives, negative peer influence, sexual coercion, poor parent–adolescent communication, negative health worker attitudes, selective SRH community outreach, and the inaccessibility of contraceptives emerged as themes influencing the sexual behavior of adolescents and unplanned pregnancies. The socio-cultural barriers and systemic facilitators of gender inequality associated with being an adolescent female in a refugee camp must be prioritized to alleviate adolescent unplanned pregnancy.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/3/2/19adolescent healthsexual and reproductive healthunplanned pregnancyrefugee campsociocultural factorsRwanda |
| spellingShingle | Autumn Eastman Oluwatomi Olunuga Tayechalem Moges Socio-Cultural Barriers Influencing Unplanned Pregnancy in Mugombwa Refugee Camp, Rwanda: Female Adolescents’ Perspectives Adolescents adolescent health sexual and reproductive health unplanned pregnancy refugee camp sociocultural factors Rwanda |
| title | Socio-Cultural Barriers Influencing Unplanned Pregnancy in Mugombwa Refugee Camp, Rwanda: Female Adolescents’ Perspectives |
| title_full | Socio-Cultural Barriers Influencing Unplanned Pregnancy in Mugombwa Refugee Camp, Rwanda: Female Adolescents’ Perspectives |
| title_fullStr | Socio-Cultural Barriers Influencing Unplanned Pregnancy in Mugombwa Refugee Camp, Rwanda: Female Adolescents’ Perspectives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Socio-Cultural Barriers Influencing Unplanned Pregnancy in Mugombwa Refugee Camp, Rwanda: Female Adolescents’ Perspectives |
| title_short | Socio-Cultural Barriers Influencing Unplanned Pregnancy in Mugombwa Refugee Camp, Rwanda: Female Adolescents’ Perspectives |
| title_sort | socio cultural barriers influencing unplanned pregnancy in mugombwa refugee camp rwanda female adolescents perspectives |
| topic | adolescent health sexual and reproductive health unplanned pregnancy refugee camp sociocultural factors Rwanda |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/3/2/19 |
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