Wars and Conflicts and its Impact on Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) among forcibly displaced women of reproductive age (15-49 years): a scoping review

Abstract

Introduction: With growing political instability, war and conflict has been disrupting the access to SRHR service and in some cases, they are left neglected. Even though the international agencies have provided relevant guidance, there is still no agreement on the effective way to provide Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) services in the humanitarian settings. Thus, this study will explore the impact of forced displacement due to war and conflict on Sexual Reproductive Health Right (SRHR) of the displaced women of reproductive age Method: This study adhered the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) for systematic reviews. Indexed Articles from databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar were methodically searched in addition to other sources and grey literatures by two reviewers independently step by step based on a pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 285 record were screened of which 15 studies were included. Findings: 15 studies were included in this review from 17 countries covering Asia and African Among the 15 studies, 2 were literature review, 1 qualitative study, 8 quantitative study, 1 policy review and 3 mixed-method studies design. Findings suggest, regardless of policies in place, due to lack of proper utilization, women displaced due to war or conflict are not receiving SRH services to the full. However, some of the effective community-based interventions can help the update of SRH services. In addition, issues like transactional sex work among female in the conflict affected settings are underrated thus gap remains in appropriate measures and intervention dedicated for them. Conclusion: The review was able to highlight some of the effective interventions across the humanitarian setting focusing on SRH for women. Community based approach has been at the heart of all the progress in SRH service and intervention.