Obach et al. BMC Public Health (2024) 24:386 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-17884-5 RESEARCH Barriers and facilitators to access sexual and reproductive health services among young migrants in Tarapacá, Chile: a qualitative study Alexandra Obach 1 , Alice Blukacz 1* , Michelle Sadler 2 , Alejandra Carreño Calderón 1 , Báltica Cabieses 1 and Carolina Díaz 1 Abstract Background Chile has become a destination country for immigrants from Latin America, including youth. Guar- anteeing access and use of sexual and reproductive health services for young migrants is crucial because of their overlapping experiences of transitioning to a new country and to adulthood. However, the existing evidence shows barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare among young migrant populations. In this context, the main objective of this article is to identify the barriers and facilitators that young migrants experience to access sexual and reproductive healthcare in the Tarapacá region of Chile. Methods A qualitative study was conducted in the Tarapacá region of Chile. Semi-structured interviews with 25 young migrants from Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador, as well as 10 health workers, were carried out. The interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Universidad del Desarrollo (#2019-22). Results Young migrants face barriers linked to structural shortcomings within the healthcare system, which may be similar to those faced by the local population. Barriers are also derived from reductionist sexual and reproductive health approaches, which prioritise the prevention of pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV, with a pre- dominantly heteronormative focus. The prevailing narratives from the health system are those of risk and lack of con- trol and self-care among young people, and they are exacerbated in the case of migrants. Young migrants, especially from the Caribbean, are stereotyped as over-sexualised and liberal in comparison to the local population and believed to be engaging in riskier sexual behaviours that should be kept under check. This may translate into experiences of discrimination and mistreatment when receiving care. Facilitators include good-quality information and commu- nity-level interventions. Conclusions This study shows a limited approach to the sexual and reproductive health of young migrants in Chile, severely hampering their reproductive and sexual rights. Policies and initiatives must work towards removing struc- tural barriers, changing narratives, and empowering young migrants regarding their sexual and reproductive health. Keywords Reproductive health, Sexual health, Access, Healthcare services, Migration, Youth, Chile Open Access © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecom- mons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. BMC Public Health *Correspondence: Alice Blukacz a.blukacz@udd.cl Full list of author information is available at the end of the article