Research Associate Professor and Co-Director of the International Center for Child and Health Development (ICHAD), Dr. Ozge Sensoy Bahar, published a commentary titled “Adolescent girls at the intersection of poverty, migration, and gender” in the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.
In collaboration with colleagues from the University of Ghana and the Brown School, the commentary highlights the unaccompanied migration of adolescent girls for labor in Sub-Saharan Africa and its underlying causes, such as poverty, gender norms, and family dynamics. It points out that while both boys and girls who migrate face adverse outcomes, girls are more susceptible to trafficking and sexual exploitation due to societal gender expectations. Additionally, these girls are at higher risk for poor sexual and reproductive health outcomes, including unintended pregnancies, STIs, and HIV. Dr. Sensoy Bahar leveraged her NIH-funded research program, focusing on youth experiences in child labor and the contributing factors, to develop interventions aimed at reducing these risks in Ghana, where 22% of children are engaged in labor. The commentary also underlines the need for multisectoral collaboration to develop and implement evidence- and theory-informed programming for vulnerable adolescent girls in the region.
“The interconnected nature of risk factors that lead to the unaccompanied migration of adolescent girls for work in cities requires a comprehensive approach to prevention efforts, including a combination of interventions to achieve greater impact. Evidence-based and theory- informed interventions that can simultaneously address household financial stability and family context as risk factors hold promise.”
Dr. Ozge Sensoy Bahar