ABSTRACT:
Background Labour exploitation is evident in the WHO-designated Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) and Türkiye 1–5, yet its implications for migrant health and access to healthcare remain poorly understood. This scoping review identifies the challenges to healthcare access and health outcomes of migrant victims of labour exploitation, with a particular focus on reproductive and psychosocial health, while identifying evidence gaps to inform future research. Methods We executed a scoping review following the updated Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines for designing scoping reviews6,7. We included peer-reviewed publications in Arabic and English, and grey literature, including organisational reports from March 2011. A comprehensive search of six databases was conducted. Using COVIDENCE, four reviewers screened titles, abstracts, and full texts to determine eligibility. 11078 articles were identified, of which 418 were included in full-text screening. Pertinent information is extracted using a tailored extraction sheet. Data are analysed using an intersectional framework, Tanahashi's health service coverage frameworks, and a symbolic, interpersonal, and structural violence framework. Labour exploitation is analysed from decent work to forced labour and modern slavery. Results Preliminary findings show that evidence on labour exploitation in relation to health mainly addresses occupational health hazards, including traumatic injuries and burns associated with precarious job conditions and psychiatric disorders related to long working hours and low income 8–11. Most studies were conducted in Kuwait, Türkiye, and Lebanon, primarily among Nepali and Ethiopian migrant workers8,12,13. Despite studies addressing reproductive injustice and physical and sexual abuse that women migrant workers experience at the workplace, limited evidence addresses their reproductive health outcomes and access to SRH services. Conclusion Future research is needed to identify reproductive health outcomes and needs of women migrant victims of labour exploitation. Addressing this gap is necessary to develop comprehensive support services tailored for women migrant workers in labour-exploitative conditions.