‘You feel sick, you get sick, you still keep going’: Central Asian female labour migrants’ health in Russia

摘要

Russia is host to one of the largest populations of labour migrants, who primarily come from Central Asia. There remains a dearth of information about the health of this population, in particular Central Asian women. We conducted a qualitative, exploratory study on the health concerns and healthcare utilisation among Central Asian female labour migrants in Russia. We conducted in-depth interviews with service providers and female labour migrants between June and November, 2017. We used thematic analysis to identify the following themes: there is a range of health concerns, including sexual and reproductive health issues; economic vulnerability and racial/ethnic discrimination influence health and utilisation of services, and constrain making health a priority; access to information is lacking; issues of trust, language and cultural norms influence healthcare service utilisation; and, social support is important to consider. Our findings reflect how religion, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic position intersect to influence health and utilisation of services. These findings have implications for public health programming and interventions among this largely neglected population, as well as make an important contribution to the existing global health literature on women, migration, and health.