Fertility, migration and acculturation (FEMINA): a research protocol for studying intersectional sexual and reproductive health inequalities

Resumo: Sexual health and reproductive health are equally important parts of personal health and development. For many years the focus of research on sexual health has concentrated mostly on issues such as the prevention of diseases, infections and unplanned pregnancies. Nowadays the focus of this research has expanded to include sexual and reproductive health rights that encompass our sexual health, gender equality and empowerment of women. However, despite the advancements being made, challenges in terms of the fulfillment of the diversity of sexual and reproductive health needs across life course and populations still exist. Migrant populations can be particularly vulnerable to sexual and reproductive health issues due to gender and socioeconomic inequalities, cultural and social norms around sexuality, and other social and structural factors. These include, among other things, how old is the migrant population, how the migrant population will adapt to the host culture, how well will it be able to navigate through the health system and linguistic barriers, and how all these factors will impact not only their fertility capacity and status, but also their achievement of sexual health. Thus, some researchers have considered that the process of postmigration cultural adjustment (i.e., acculturation) may induce a change in how individuals make decisions about important events such as when and whether to have a child. However proper evidence that establishes the link between migration, sexual health and reproductive decisions is still lacking. Therefore, there is a need to study how different generations and genders in immigrant families in Portugal perceive the concepts of family and sexuality based on the institutional and policy context that surround them. The FEMINA (FErtility, MIgratioN and Acculturation) study proposes to explore whether sexual and reproductive health inequalities impact on fertility among Cape Verdean immigrant and Portuguese native families in Portugal.

Consultar: https://reproductive-health-journal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12978- 019-0795-5