Paper short abstract:

This study explores the lived experiences of three women and their families during their process of re-settlement in Norway.

Paper long abstract:

One of the women, Zhara, comments on her hair turning white, symbolizing the intense hardships, traumatic memories, and the ongoing pressures of adapting to a new environment, complicated by health challenges. Based on a year of ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation and in-depth interviews with three refugee women and their families, the study provides an ethnographic approach to everyday life. Knowledge from the lived experiences among refugee women is not readily accessible. It requires the establishment of trust-based relationships; being present and being together with the interlocutors over time.

Refugees in Norway are a minority which are facing health disparities. They report poorer health compared to refugee men and the general population and are more vulnerable to Othering, loneliness, and marginalization. Our findings show the important and complex relationship between family ties, flight, and health. The bonds between familial members seems to play an important role in proving strength and support, which emerges as crucial for the adaptation process and well-being of the three women. Although not in unproblematic ways. Accessing sensitive topics within such groups can be demanding; however, ethnography, through face-to-face interrelationship, can provide the necessary knowledge and insights to this understudied group.