ArticlePLOS global public health2025
"Vulnerable and strong at the same time": Forcibly displaced young women's lived experiences of their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as unaccompanied girls seeking asylum in Sweden.
Article in PLOS global public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Unaccompanied girls undergoing forced migration are exposed to multiple risk factors affecting their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Yet, little is known of their perceived SRHR needs. Thus, the aim of this study was to illuminate the lived experiences of SRHR needs of unaccompanied girls seeking asylum in Sweden, and capture how experienced needs are affected by the social contexts navigated pre, during, and post-migration. A qualitative constructivist grounded theory (CGT) methodology was applied. Data was generated through in-depth interviews with 16 participants aged 21-26, self-identifying as women, who experienced forced migration as unaccompanied girls. All had sought asylum in Sweden as minors (under age 18), and had been granted either temporary or permanent residence status. Data analysis was conducted in accordance with CGT. The findings show that unaccompanied girls and young women experience structural hindrances pre, during, and post-migration, including restrictive norms on gender and sexuality, various forms of violence, and exposure to racism and mistreatment in encounters with public institutions, impeding the fulfilment of their SRHR. Simultaneously, they construct pathways to protect themselves from harm, and find support in navigating and claiming their SRHR needs. To cope with daily struggles, and access SRHR, time, distance, and stability are important in recovery, and in adapting and integrating new perspectives on SRHR. In conclusion, this study shows that unaccompanied girls and young women are at significant risk of SRHR violations. The findings call for broad policy shifts, with focused protections against gender-based violence, in addressing the specific SRHR needs of this group. Moreover, evaluating and strengthening SRHR literacy among professionals within public institutions and these girls alike should be prioritised in promoting protective factors, independence, and agency.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.