Description
Objective
This study intends to highlight the prevalence of sexual violence amongst migrants, especially forced migrants belonging to the LGBTQ community and highlights the reason why it tends to be hidden. This would help enhance reproductive health services as well as identify policy gaps that might exist in today’s world.
Introduction
There are more than 100 million people who are displaced forcibly from their homes, living in places, in camps, who face elevated risks for sexual violence. These statistics increase exponentially when it comes to refugees who are a part of the LGBTQ community. Based on prior studies, individuals compelled to migrate because of their gender identity, and/or expression, face considerable challenges, leading to substantial risks and health-related consequences during and after migration.
However due to the social stigma attached to sexual violence as well as a lack of research on LGBTQ communities, there has been little to no efforts on understanding the experience of the forced migrants in these communities leading to a large knowledge gap.
Methodology
Systemic search was conducted on various scholarly databases including PubMed, PsychInfo, Scopus and Google Scholar. Keywords used on the search include “LGBTQ” “forced migrants” “sexual violence” “refugee” “sexual stigma” and “SRH”. 15 articles were read, out of which 9 were selected and systematically reviewed. 5 articles were then selected and used for the study.
Results and Discussion
Studied show that all sexual violence victims, especially migrants, tend to not talk about their sexual trauma due to various reasons. These include the negative cultural conception about sexual violence survivors that exist in today’s society which tends to call the survivors as “immoral”. Survivors experience a sense of being kept “down” by feelings of shame, low self-esteem, engaging in self-isolation. This exists at a larger level in forced migrants of the LGBTQ community.
These forced migrants were targets of intense violence acts i.e., hate crimes. The people in their host countries completely exploited them, including expecting sexual favors from them. Findings confirmed that the target population not only face a lot of challenges of forced migration regardless of their gender identity and/or orientation but also face specific burdens related to their multiple intersecting identities.
Conclusion and future implications
Due to the intersection of multiple identities as well as the stresses of forced migration, forced migrants of the LGBTQ community are vulnerable to sexual violence. In this evolving, inclusive world, effort has been made to give voice to the migrants. Responsibility of which has largely fallen upon health professionals, leaders and health educators.
Inclusive policies should be made to protect these forced migrants. More sexual and reproductive health centers should be opened to increase awareness about sexual health and violence. Migrants have reported that peer support helps them the most to lead a near normal life again, hence we all should work to help and support them, for we may just be everything they have.
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