Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of Female Labor Migrants from Central Asia in St. Petersburg, Russia

There is an increasing number of female labor migrants from Central Asia to Russia. They are often not eligible for health care services because they are not citizens of Russia and hard-to-reach with health promotion campaigns and outreach services. They are particularly vulnerable in regard to their sexual and reproductive health.

The objective of our study was to better understand the sexual and reproductive health needs of female labor migrants from Central Asia who are currently residing in St. Petersburg, Russia. We aimed to gather the perspectives of health and social service providers about the needs and gaps in current services and to learn about the needs directly from female labor migrants.

Methods: key informant interviews with members of civil society and government service providers, and in-depth interviews with female labor migrants in St. Petersburg. We purposively sampled women from Central Asia who had migrated to St. Petersburg for work and recruited women through nongovernmental organizations.. Data were deductively and inductively coded in the qualitative software program Dedoose. Thematic analysis guided our process through coding the data and identifying themes around the salient issues related to migrant women’s sexual and reproductive health.

The following topics were revealed: reflection on arrival to Russia, types of work women are involved in, general health and social service needs of female labor migrants, sexual and reproductive health needs, differences in needs and health care compared to country of origin and Russia, awareness of existing services, accessibility and any barriers to receiving care, gaps in services provided and/or linkages to care, interest in participating in interventions or programs, and recommendations for services.The longer-term goal of this research is to develop interventions to improve the sexual and reproductive health of female labor migrants in Russia.