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FOUND 16
This living report details the various global responses of organisations providing harm reduction and auxiliary services to women who use drugs. Responses to COVID restrictions for WUD have been mapped and are presented here.
The brief highlights the intersections between age, gender, and drug use, making the case for why young women who use drugs are particularly at risk of HIV transmission and not adequately reached through mainstream health services. The brief also offers some recommendations for how our HIV response can better meet the needs of young women affected by HIV and drug use.
Misinformation, stigma and discrimination contribute to the promotion of ideas that any type of drug use during pregnancy will result in harm to the foetus. Criminalisation, stigma and discrimination associated with illicit drug use during pregnancy also results in many women keeping their pregnancy concealed and prevents them from accessing a range of services, such as antenatal care, harm reduction services including voluntary drug treatment…
Young women and girls who are affected by punitive drug policy face unique age-related as well as gender-specific risks, barriers and rights violations that are not well recognized or responded to by policymakers or service providers. Parental consent combined with minimum age restrictions to medical treatment as well as harm reduction services create access barriers for this cohort. This article examines these issues to highlight the importance…
Throughout the world, people who inject drugs experience stigmatization, vulnerability, marginalization and higher risk of acquiring HIV. The situation is even worse for women who inject drugs as detailed in this Policy Brief. In addition to highlighting the importance for services specifically responding to the needs of women who inject drugs, the companion Practical Guide for service providers describes steps to initiate and monitor services…
Incorporating gender analysis into the rapidly developing scholarship on drug use, drug trade, drug science, drug treatment, and drug policy in the United States, the special issue showcases articles that are part of a vibrant body of historical, sociological, and anthropological scholarship. The differential effects of drug policy are explored, focusing on how gender – in dynamic relationship to race, class, and sexuality – is integral to…
Women and gender non-conforming people are disproportionately impacted by law enforcement in the context of punitive and prohibitionist drug policy. In addition to their over representation in global incarceration rates, women who use drugs experience forms of violence including penalisation for drug use in pregnancy and parenthood, extortion and sexual and physical abuse by law enforcement officials and, in the extreme extra judicial killings.…
From South Africa to Myanmar, from Brazil to Kyrgyzstan, women are resisting the war on drugs. Killings, criminalization, incarceration, denial of medical care, and social stigma are just a few of the effects the war on drugs has had on communities around the world. It targets particular groups, with gender-specific impacts. For example, the long history of the medical establishment’s sexist and abusive treatment of women provides a strong…
The meaningful involvement of the Women’s Advisory Group has been critical in increasing the active participation of women who use drugs in harm reduction services in MdMs harm reduction programming in Myanmar. This interview highlights the strategies used by the group and the rationale driving their activities and ambitions.
The mantra ‘Nothing about us without us’ speaks to the imperative of HIV service providers considering the needs of those served. Despite the increased risk of women who use drugs acquiring a blood borne virus and experiences of state and social forms of gender-based violence, there is a distinct lack of women focused harm reduction services. This interview highlights how the use of feminist theory frameworks with art and story telling…
From South Africa to Myanmar, from Brazil to Kyrgyzstan, women are resisting the war on drugs. Killings, criminalization, incarceration, denial of medical care, and social stigma are just a few of the effects the war on drugs has had on communities around the world. It targets particular groups, with gender-specific impacts. The war on drugs is clearly a feminist issue. Yet the effects of repressive drug policies on women, trans and gender-…
Intersectionality refers to the ways in which different aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalization. The concept is useful for understanding and addressing inequities experienced by women who use drugs. Also available in Russian, Indonesian and Ukrainian
Gender inequalities affect women’s access to and experience of HIV/AIDS programmes and services. The current study focused on Female Injecting Drug Users with human immunodeficiency virus positive status, residing in Champai district of Mizoram - known as transit hub for illegal drugs.
"Globally, women make up one third of people who abuse drugs but just one fifth of those who are in treatment," the report states. The 'Women and Drugs' chapter provides global data on the linkages between women who use drugs and HIV (page 4).
Women who use drugs are more vulnerable to HIV infection than male drug users. They share injection equipment and are often "second on the needle." Engagement in sex work and low levels of condom use add to their risk of infection. At the same time, women face greater obstacles to accessing the services they need to protect their health. This report examines women's access to harm reduction, reproductive health, and HIV and AIDS services in five…
Recent innovative research has identified key factors that put vulnerable South African women at risk of HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence, including high-risk patterns of alcohol abuse and sexual partnering, gender norms that place men in control in sexual relationships, low educational levels and limited access to employment, poor health care, inadequate housing, and sex work. These studies identified vulnerable populations of South African…