Search Results (26)

Background: International migration is a growing global phenomenon involving diverse groups, such as labor migrants, international marriage migrants, refugees, and international students. International migrants face unique mental health challenges influenced by adversities such as social isolation and limited access to mental health services. This study employs bibliometric methods to systematically analyze the global body of literature on international migrants’ mental health. Methods: The literature on the mental health of international migrants published until October 2024 was searched using the Web of Science database. The search terms included (‘International migrants’ OR ‘migrant workers’ OR ‘international students’ OR ‘refugees’ OR ‘asylum seekers’ OR ‘smuggled migrants’) AND ‘mental health’. VOSviewer was used to conduct bibliometric analysis, focusing on co-authorship patterns, keyword co-occurrence, and citation networks. Results: Over the past four decades, research on the mental health of international migrants has grown substantially, with major migration destinations such as the United States, Europe, and Australia playing prominent roles in this field. ‘Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)’ was the most frequent keyword in publications, with strong links to ‘trauma’ and ‘depression’. In recent years, with the impact of global socioenvironmental changes and emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the research focus has gradually shifted towards social support, service accessibility, and cultural adaptation. Conclusions: International migration is a far-reaching global phenomenon, and addressing the mental health of migrant populations is essential for advancing public health, social cohesion, and sustainable development. This study provides the first bibliometric overview of research in this domain, mapping its thematic evolution and collaborative structure. The findings offer valuable insights into the field’s development and may support future interdisciplinary collaboration and the formulation of culturally informed, evidence-based approaches in migrant mental health. Full article

Consanguinity is the marriage of two related persons. This type of marriage is one of the main pillars when it comes to recessive hereditary diseases, birth defects, infertility, miscarriages, abortion, and infant deaths. Intermarriage continues to be a common practice in various communities in North Africa, the Middle East, and West and South Asia, as well as among migrants from Europe and North America, even though in more and more countries it has become illegal. Even if security and stability are some of the motivations for consanguineous marriage, studies show that women often suffer physical and verbal abuse from their husbands. However, because of the blood bond, tolerance for these habits is much higher. In addition, it seems that the divorce rate is much lower because separation would affect the entire state of the family. The choice of partner is significantly influenced by variables such as limited access to education and financial resources. Illiterate people coming from poor rural areas are much more likely to choose consanguineous marriage to maintain wealth in the family. The lack of medical knowledge about the negative effects of consanguinity leads to an increased rate of abortions, infant deaths, and births of children with congenital birth defects. Today, because of the process of urbanization and increased levels of knowledge, the younger generation is becoming increasingly less receptive to this particular form of marriage. In addition, as education has become more accessible to women, they have become more independent and eager to fulfill their own goals and not the wishes of the family. In conclusion, contrary to the many apparent advantages of consanguineous marriage, partners should put genetic risks first, as medical problems bring with them increased costs in the medical system and also within the family, leading to even lower economic status and consequently perpetuation of this type of marriage. Full article

Partner selection is a complex process shaped by structural, social, and personal factors. For refugees and forced migrants, displacement and adaptation add further challenges, with families—even from far away—playing a crucial role in shaping expectations and influencing partnership decisions. This influence can be direct—through arranged marriages or introductions—or indirect, by setting expectations based on ethnicity, religion, or social status. Family endorsement is often crucial in reinforcing ethnic, religious, or language group continuity and community acceptance. This study examines the role of family in partner selection among refugees who arrived in Germany largely during the 2015–2016 period, a group characterized by a high proportion of unmarried men with limited family support. This group is compared to the German resident population, both with and without a migration background. For the descriptive analyses, we draw on two data sources: the PARFORM dataset, collected in 2022–2023, which covers male Syrian and Afghan refugees who arrived between 2014 and 2018; and the ninth wave of the CILS4EU-DE, collected in 2022. The multivariate analyses rely exclusively on the PARFORM dataset and utilize linear probability models with selection correction. We contribute to the literature in three key ways: identifying mechanisms of family influence despite physical distance; introducing a multidimensional framework to measure partnership outcomes based on ethnic, religious, and linguistic endogamy; and providing new insights into the underexplored partnership formation of this refugee cohort. Full article

This study examines the lives of marriage migrants, primarily coming from the Philippines to non-highly urbanised areas (i.e., “rural” areas) of South Korea. It looks at how these women negotiate gender norms and expectations in these multicultural families within the context of state-led multiculturalism. Semi-structured interviews with 20 Filipino marriage migrants were conducted from August to September 2023 in selected areas of Chungcheongnam-do (South Chungcheong Province) and Jeollabuk-do (North Jeolla Province). Based on the data gathered, it was found that these women have navigated gendered cultural expectations in the Korean household, thus reproducing gendered norms within the traditional Korean family and playing a significant role in keeping the family intact. However, there are also instances where these gendered expectations were subverted within these families. This study would like to interrogate whether these women are able to re-imagine a different kind of “womanhood” away from traditional family norms, thus challenging existing models of how marriage migrants are expected to perform in the context of what I call “performative multiculturalism” in ethnonationalist states such as South Korea and Japan. Full article

Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) is a practice involving the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. To facilitate attitude changes, the ecological model of behavior change considers multiple levels of influence and their relationships with environmental and behavioral factors. The combined effects of migration and cultural adaptation result in a transformative process that leads to decreased support for FGM/C. This qualitative study aimed to gain knowledge from FGM/C field professionals regarding the factors promoting behavioral changes in migrant communities in Geneva, Switzerland. Between September and October 2023, we conducted semi-structured interviews using a reflexive thematic analysis. Our qualitative research is reported in accordance with the COREQ criteria. A data analysis was performed using NVivo 14 software. Four influential dimensions were identified, each with associated factors. The first dimension, the social level, includes (1) the impact and implementation of anti-FGM/C laws. The second dimension, the community level, encompasses four factors such as (2) religion, (3) a multifaceted examination of social aspects, (4) navigating language barriers and raising awareness, and (5) cultural adaptation processes. The third dimension, the interpersonal level, includes factors such as (6) changing views on the marriage prerequisite. Finally, the fourth dimension, the personal level, is associated with (7) women’s experiences and perspectives regarding FGM/C. The findings highlight seven environmental factors, both within and across dimensions of the ecological model, that interact with human behavior to enable an adaptive cultural process. This process influences changes in attitudes and behaviors regarding FGM/C. Full article

Northwest Yunnan is nested in the border areas of Tibet, Myanmar, and Southwest China. The religiously and ethnically diverse region has astonishingly seen a lack of “conflict”, as is often assumed in regions of ethnic and religious differences. This paper argues that there is an organic form of pluralism through frequent inter-ethnic and inter-religious marriages, multi-lingual daily interactions, and strategic ethnicity registrations. Ethnic and religious boundaries are made permanently or temporarily permeable through the celebration of boundary-crossing rituals such as weddings and funerals and other shared experiences such as collective labor and migrant work. Despite an increasingly strong push to be integrated into the state power through various top-down developmental projects, minority peoples here still use kinship, collective rituals, and other shared experiences to foster group formation that is fluid, porous, and malleable, instilling empathy and obligation as the basis of this pluralistic borderland society. This organic form of pluralism presents an alternative to the nation as the standard modern form of community. This paper ultimately argues that this specific type of plurality requires us to think beyond the normative liberal notions of religious tolerance and diversity that are still promoted within the frame of the exclusivist nation-state. Full article

The link between marriage and migration is usually considered in terms of international migration. However, domestic migration provides another lens in which to view this connection. In Brazil, despite the large migration from the northeast to the southern regions in the twentieth century, the role of domestic migration in race-mixing has been unacknowledged. Since race in Brazil is highly regionalized, with black and brown Brazilians comprising most northern regions and white Brazilians being in the majority of the southern areas of the country, migration can open possibilities for interracial marriage that are less likely to occur for non-migrants. At the same time, as gender plays an important role in opportunities for intermarriage, the effects of migration likely vary according to intersections of race and gender. An examination of the data on marital unions from the 2009 Brazilian National Household Survey, which includes large numbers of earlier cohorts of mass migration, demonstrates the influence of migration on interracial marriage. This study finds that the effect of migration on the odds of being interracially married (in comparison with being in a same-race marital union) vary according to the race and gender of the spouse. This study is one of the first to tie together two demographic phenomena—migration and interracial marriage—that have not previously been examined in the Brazilian context. It also provides a new lens through which to understand interracial marriage in Brazil and has implications for future studies of family formation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Full article

This article explores the barriers and the strategies of a group of highly educated foreign women to obtain a job-education matching situation in the Basque Country (Spain) where they all permanently settled following a binational heterosexual marriage. Drawing on 21 biographical interviews with women from Latin America and Europe, we examine new perspectives on the complexity and fluidity between their professional pathways and family projects. For that, we apply an intersectional lens to analyse their life experience. Our results show that respondents involved in a feminised labour market (education and health) have fewer difficulties to find a job-education match. In other cases, becoming self-employed is a way to gain independence and flexibility by running an open market-oriented business. Interviewees identified language, lack of personal networks, family reconciliation, traditional gender roles and the transferring of cultural capital as the main barriers for their incorporation into the labour market. The study finds that marriage support is not enough to overcome the barriers. We argue that for a more comprehensive understanding of labour integration of highly educated migrant women, motivation and agency, linked to family support, should be considered factors to cope with structural inequalities. Full article

In The Netherlands, women who experience domestic violence can rely on public policies that aim to support them, such as shelters. Drawing on the lived experiences, through 10 interviews and observations, of women with different cultural backgrounds and nationalities staying in a shelter, and on 37 interviews with social workers working with these women, we observed that this support falls short for them. We argue that immigration rules, together with policies on domestic violence and housing, (unintentionally) often work in tandem with violent partners to prevent women with migration backgrounds from leaving violent relationships. The paper draws on a perspective of institutional considerations of solidarity to unpack the relations between domestic violence, cultural constraints, and public policies but looks also at the positive experiences of women of migrant backgrounds with these Dutch policies. This research indicates that there is a lack of institutional solidarity towards women, especially those arriving as marriage migrants, who have experienced domestic violence. In exploring the intersections of domestic violence and often exclusionary state policies, the paper reflects on how The Netherlands can provide more support to those women and how intersectional justice and solidarity might be expressed. Full article

Asylum-seeking migrants represent a vulnerable segment of the population, and among them, women constitute an even more vulnerable group. Most of these women and girls have been exposed to threats, coercion, and violence of many kinds, including rape, forced prostitution, harassment, sexual slavery, forced marriage and pregnancy, female genital mutilation/excision, and/or other violations of their rights (e.g., deprivation of education, prohibition to work, etc.). The perpetrators of the violence from which they flee are often their own families, partners, and even institutional figures who should be in charge of their protection (such as police officers). In the process for the acceptance/rejection of an asylum application, the forensic and psychological certification can make the difference between successful and unsuccessful applications, as it can support the credibility of the asylum seeker through an assessment of the degree of compatibility between the story told and the diagnostic and forensic evidence. This is why constant and renewed reflection on the ethical, forensic, and methodological issues surrounding medico-legal and psychological certification is essential. This article aims to propose some reflections on these issues, starting from the experience of the inward healthcare service dedicated to Migrant Victims of Maltreatment, Torture, and Female Genital Mutilation operating since 2018 at the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the University Hospital of Palermo. Full article

There are about 200 million people on the move in the world, and approximately 50% of them are women. There are no clear migration plans for women leaving as a result of persecution, war, famine, climatic disasters or moving away from contexts of external abuse and even intrafamily violence. Gender-related violence, to which women are exposed in cultural contexts characterized by a patriarchal social organization, is manifested through different ways including, but not limited to, early marriages and genital mutilation, with reproductive health already being seriously impaired at an early age. To this must be added the consideration that low-income countries are not able to deal with chronic degenerative diseases with a multidisciplinary approach such as diabetes. Fragile or non-existent health systems are not prepared for this need, which now affects a third of all deaths from this cause. Compared to Italian mothers, women from high-migration pressure countries had a higher risk of gestational diabetes; in addition, young women of Ethiopian ethnicity are more exposed to increased diabetes risk, in an age- and BMI-dependent way. Gender inequalities are also more evident in migrants for other non-communicable diseases besides diabetes. A major effort is needed in terms of training practitioners and reorganization of basic health services, making them competent in an intercultural sense. Health education of the population as a whole and of women specifically is also needed to contain risk behavior and prevent the early onset of metabolic syndromes in general and of type 2 diabetes in particular. Full article

We utilized all Spanish marriage records available at the municipality level from 2005–2007 to model spatial variations in intermarriage. We constructed a spatial regime zero-inflated Poisson model and grouped-data probit model, with spatially lagged regressors, to predict the absolute and relative presence of intermarriage between Spaniards and migrants based on structural characteristics of the local marriage markets and their neighboring areas (i.e., relative group size, homogeneity of national origins, and sex ratio indicators). Our models do not assume collapsibility of the marriage market. Instead, they incorporate the local dimension of the marriage market and examine the association between intermarriage and structural variables at the spatial local level. The model also investigates intermarriage variation by size of place. The local characteristics of the marriage markets are robust indicators of both the absolute and relative importance of intermarriage, but their impact varies by size of municipality. The relative size of the migrant community positively impacts intermarriage. The homogeneity of the origins of migrants is negatively related to it. The impact of sex ratios in the migrant and native communities on intermarriage is not uniform across all municipalities and is not always related to more intermarriage. Full article

The emphasis on migration for development obscures its diverse challenges. The migration development nexus is paradoxical, problematic, and controversial. Remittances have long gained wide interest. Migrants’ subjective experiences are important in understanding overall migration outcomes. International African female migration has increased and it is underexplored. This paper investigates the psychosocial stressors of migration based on the lived experiences of Kenyan female migrants in Austria. A sample of 6 female migrants was selected. Narrative data were recorded and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings showed that migration resulted in troubled relationships within the core and extended families. The economic dependency of family members in Kenya caused conflicts in interracial marriages. Acculturation led to alienation, family separation and isolation. Achieving economic goals proved challenging due to unpredictable effects in Austria. Failed expectations driven by stereotypes about Europe resulted in disillusionment and high expenses. Routine racism and Black female body objectification affected the mental health of the participants. This article contributes to knowledge on international African migration and gender-specific issues concerning African female migrants. The results will inform policymakers, academia, future migrants and mental health providers. Further research on the effects of migration on African migrants is recommended. Full article

This study aimed to examine sports programs at multicultural family support centers located throughout the country and present the possibility of social integration through the sports programs. The multicultural sports program showed that it affected the ability of migrant women in international marriages to socially integrate with other women like themselves, their husbands, and the natives, and also affected themselves. In order to clarify the purpose of the research, in-depth interviews were carried out. The collected material was transcribed, encoded, and classified. The results were analyzed from the perspective of sports’ physical, psychological, and social functions. This social integration was shown to be more effective than any other program at the multicultural family support center. Regarding their relationship with their husbands, the program provided opportunities for deepening their mutual understanding. The sports program was also utilized as a place of leisure for the women as well, and it was discovered that sports activities were being used as a means of resolving stress. The migrant women’s life radius and interpersonal relations were small due to their limited linguistic abilities. They provided opportunities to form confidence in their Korean life. Full article

In the context of globalization, the landscape of language in Korea has changed dramatically in the last three decades because of the influx of marriage migrants and foreign workers. The growing number of immigrant and international marriages has led to the emergence of new linguistic minorities in Korea who have multicultural and multilingual backgrounds, and they challenge Korea’s long-lasting tradition of linguistic homogeneity and purity. Language related education for this newly emerging group of language minority students, whose number has increased dramatically since the late-1990s, has become a salient issue. This paper critically analyzes the current education policies and programs designed for the newly emerging group of language minority students, and examines the prospects for sustainable development of these students in Korea. In particular, it focuses on the underlying ideology of linguistic nationalism and assimilationist integration regime embedded in various education policy initiatives and reforms, which require language minority students to forgo their multilingual background and forcibly embrace linguistic homogeneity. The paper elaborates on alternative educational programs that could enable language minority students to achieve sustainable development and progress. Full article