Table 3.

Categories, subcategories and codes obtained from interviews with Afghan women.

Categories	Subcategories	Codes
Little knowledge and information	Limited access to information resources	Not having TV, not having internet, lack of literacy to read newspapers etc.
	Incomplete knowledge about COVID-19	Little knowledge about COVID-19, preventing it and treating it
Family challenges	Intensified experience of violence and conflict in the family	Verbal violence, psychological violence, physical violence, conflicts between family members
	Problems related to childbirth and pregnancy	Unwanted pregnancies, unsafe pregnancies, unsafe deliveries, abortion and lack of conditions for proper pregnancy
Socio-economic challenges	Exacerbation of economic problems	Unemployment of husband and children, expensiveness and inflation, the cost of buying hygienic products such as alcohol and masks
	High-risk living conditions	Not having proper bathrooms and toilets, overcrowded households, high-risk jobs (regarding COVID-19) of family members, and living in insecure neighborhoods regarding COVID-19
	Social isolation	Disconnection with friends and relatives, limited access to virtual communication, closed borders as an impediment to visit relatives in Afghanistan, separation from children
	Limited support of social and health organizations	Disregard for concessions for refugee treatment, poor financial and non-financial support, a lack of a proper mechanism for screening and testing among refugees and a lack of a proper mechanism for distributing health and livelihood support packages
Health issues	Problems related to treatment	Delay in seeing a doctor, fear of going to the hospital after infection, being forced to undergo treatment at home, self-medication (self-treatment), high cost of treatment, not having the right conditions for the patient's home quarantine, infecting all family members, Being rejected by some hospitals, inappropriate behavior of medical staff to Afghans, limited number of Afghan-related health centers
	Injustice in providing services and facilities	Difficult access of women to services, ignoring the needs of women, discrimination in providing services
Problems after the death of a COVID-19 patient	Burial challenges for immigrants	Ambiguity and fear of the burial conditions of a COVID-19 dead, lack of accountability of officials about the manner of burial, difficulty in transferring the body to Afghanistan, difficult conditions of burial in Iran, attempts to bury the body illegally
	Lack of funeral rites	Keeping the body at home, not holding burial according to their customs