Global Health Research Group on Disrupting the cycle of GEndered violence & Poor Mental health among Migrants in precarious Situations (GEMMS)

The mental health and psychosocial (MH) consequences of precarity experienced by migrants is widely acknowledged as a global health challenge. Migrants inhabiting and moving across ‘precarious situations’ are at high risk of Gendered Violence (GV), at both the interpersonal and structural level. Combined with the inability to report or access healthcare and other systems of protection, and invisibility in policy and planning results in excess burden and entrapment in a damaging cycle of GV and MH. In order to inform the design of appropriate interventions that address these burdens, it is necessary to improve our understanding of the relationship between drivers of risk among migrants in precarious situations. Responding to conceptual, empirical and intervention gaps affecting this global public health crisis, we build on existing interdisciplinary expertise and prior collaborations to establish a Global Health Research Group on GEndered violence & Poor Mental health among Migrants in precarious Situations’ (GEMMS). GEMMS brings together clinical, psychosocial, sociological and public health expertise within the University of Essex with expertise from South Asia and Southern Africa to advance this agenda. Aims & objectives: Working in four precarious situations with diverse migrant groups in India, Myanmar, South Africa and Zimbabwe, we aim to create the necessary conceptual and methodological tools and actions that may create solutions to disrupt the damaging cycle of GV & poor MH and improve migrants' wellbeing, via following Work Packages (WPs): WP1: Situational Assessment And Data Appraisal – evaluate existing evidence and service gaps to inform the design of research and intervention tools and conceptual framework to advance other WPs. WP2: Lived Experiences – conduct research with migrants, health providers using mixed methods integrated with Participatory Action Research to generate new knowledge about: • burden and lived experiences of the intersecting risks of GV and poor MH • socio-economic determinants and contextual mechanisms • distribution and accessibility of resources that support resilience and well-being. WP3: Actions & Interventions - Drawing on WP1 &2, develop a participatory approach to co-design actions and a training and support intervention for healthcare workers and service providers Methods: Our research methods involve a situational assessment and review of existing evidence; a cross-sectional survey and longitudinal phone tracing survey to understand changes in risk over time and place; and qualitative interviews and participatory workshops with affected migrants, healthcare workers and service providers to co-design actions to address the risks to GV and PH. Anticipated impact: • Improved knowledge will lead to the development of a responsive conceptual framework to assist in understanding & responding to the mutually reinforcing cycle of GV & MH in migrants in precarious situations. • Appropriate, supportive actions are co-developed with key stakeholders, including affected migrants, to reduce the syndemic risk of GV & improve MH in migrants in precarious situations. • Key stakeholders at the community, national and global level are informed and equipped to influence policy processes in order to support action towards SDGs 3, 5 and 10 • Partnerships and activities will continue beyond the grant cycle, supporting GEMMS in becoming a global reference point for migration and health.