BackgroundRefugee women exhibit some of the highest rates of chronic pain yet the diversity and challenges of health care systems across countries pose numerous challenges for refugee women trying to access quality health care.ObjectiveWe sought to explore the experiences of Assyrian refugee women seeking care for chronic pain.MethodsSemi-structured interviews (face-to-face and virtual) were undertaken with 10 Assyrian women of refugee background living in Melbourne, Australia. Audio recordings and field notes of interviews were collected and themes were identified using a phenomenological approach. Women were required to be conversant in English or Arabic and willing to use a translator if necessary.ResultsWe identified five major themes of women’s experiences accessing care for chronic pain: (1) the story of pain; (2) the experience of help seeking in Australia and home country; (3) factors shaping the ability to access appropriate care; (4) support seeking systems; and (5) influence of culture and gender roles.ConclusionExploring refugee women’s experience of seeking care for chronic pain reinforces the need to explore hard to reach population’s perspectives in research and helps to understand how vectors of disadvantage may intersect. For successful integration into health care systems of host countries, particularly for complex conditions such as chronic pain, there is a need to work with women community members to develop programs that are culturally aligned to enhance access pathways to care.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12939-023-01891-w.