Para reducir el uso de drogas se debe escuchar a las mujeres que las consumen

Noticias

Para reducir el uso de drogas se debe escuchar a las mujeres que las consumen

20 enero 2017
Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch

La participación significativa de las mujeres en la formulación de intervenciones y programas puede disminuir los daños asociados con las políticas de drogas, promover el empoderamiento y mejorar la salud pública.

Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

Suscríbase a las Alertas mensuales del IDPC para recibir información sobre cuestiones relacionadas con políticas sobre drogas.

By Kasia Malinowska and Bethany Medley

Catalina was in prison for a drug conviction in Guaviare, Colombia. She had been detained for possessing some coca paste­ – an amount barely sufficient to economically support herself and her two young children for a few weeks. She didn’t know where her children were, or if they were being cared for, and had no idea when she would be released.

In Tajikistan, Anya recently learned that she was HIV positive. She said she had been an injecting drug user for three years, and often used with her partner, who was physically and emotionally abusive. Her partner would often inject himself first and then pass on the equipment to her. Anya suspects this is how she contracted HIV.

Many people see drug use and participation in drug-related trade as a global problem meriting punishment. Unfortunately, poorly designed drug policies can worsen violence rather than diminish it, contribute to epidemics of HIV and HCV (Hepatitis C), and violate human rights. The most common consequences of drug policies, whether focusing on the supply or the demand side, bring disproportionate harm to women and girls.

Click here to read the full article.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Thumbnail: Flickr CC RockyRejas