Abstract

Objectives: To understand how context-specific factors influence Syrian refugee women’ psychosocial wellbeing and mental health, the focus group discussions were conducted in Turkey. Methods: A total of 9 focus groups were conducted with Syrian women (4), Syrian men (3) and stakeholders (2) from October 2019 to December 2019. Qualitative assessment was used to examine the experiences related to the psychological health difficulties of Syrian women living in Turkey with temporary protection status. Thematic analysis was run to analyze the data by coding and identifying themes or patterns. Their psychosocial problems, intention to seek professional help, access to existing services, challenges in access to, and expectations regarding these services were evaluated. Results: Refugee women experience psychological and social difficulties just because they are women. Also, refugee women seem to be more vulnerable to psychological problems than men due to the effect of patriarchal ideology and the problems experienced before the forced migration. Conclusions: Psychosocial well-being of Syrian refugee women is affected by the social, economic and political atmosphere

Keywords: Syrian Refugees, Women, Mental Health, Qualitative Method