WHRIN is a global platform to expand harm reduction approaches for women.

WHRIN es una plataforma global orientada a reducir los daños asociados al consumo de drogas por parte de mujeres, así como a desarrollar un entorno que favorezca la implementación y expansión de recursos orientados a mujeres para la reducción de daños.

WHRIN est une tribune internationale travaillant pour la réduction des risques associés à la prise de drogues par les femmes et cherchant à développer un environnement adapté à la mise en œuvre des politiques de réduction des risques pour les femmes.

Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN)

, WHRIN highlight their recent work on the topic of drug use and maturing. There is an overwhelming lack of research on drug use and maturing, and even less with a gender lens. We are happy to share with you a video highlighting some key points from women who use drugs on this topic. 

WHRIN has also previously developed a position statement 'Drug Use as We Mature' which can be accessed 

Drug use as we mature: Key points from women who use drugs

November 25 is the International Campaign for Elimination of Violence against Women which marks the beginning of 16 days of action through to December 10, International Human Rights Day.

WHRIN encourages interested organisations and groups worldwide to collaborate and organise actions to highlight the need to end violence against women who use drugs and improve drug policies for women from a human rights and harm reduction perspective. (For inspiration from past actions, see past reports 

To join our global campaign, please adapt/translate and print out the 

 and take photos while wearing something orange (to pick up on the international theme colour for eliminating violence against women) while ensuring your action brings particular attention to the situation of women and gender diverse people who use drugs.

In contexts where publication of identifying images could have negative repercussions, it is proposed that the poster is held in front of faces to protect identity, or that blur face options be offered. Those participating will agree to having the images used for campaign purposes targeting UN agencies, drug policy forums and via partner harm reduction, drug policy and feminist agencies. Campaign organisers will be responsible for coordinating informed consent (see example template 

By December 15th, please email your photos and brief description of activity (max 200 words) back to: ailish@whrin.site. 

The reports will be pooled, collated and re-propelled through relevant networks aiming to achieve a global level profile for the campaign.

You are encouraged to invite the media to hear and receive statements from your organisation/s. An optional 

 can be translated and adapted to context in your city, adding your own contact or logo etc. 

To register your EVAWUD planning and/or apply for a small grant, 

WHRIN is able to offer a limited number of small grants to support the 2023 campaign for elimination of violence against women who use drugs, 16 days of action (November 25-December 10).

Selections will be based on potential impact, meaningful involvement of women who use drugs, geographic diversity, scale, alignment with the WHRIN global campaign tools and extent of planned publicity. Encouraging multiple agency proposals, we have reserved the option to award larger grants to collaborating organisations or consortia.

WHRIN hopes engagement in this campaign will not hinge on being awarded a grant – and are excited to hear about and help document your actions.

Whether or not relying on a grant to participate, please do fill out and return your campaign plans so WHRIN can assist with promotion of your activity.

Please see and download the application form here

Applications due by Friday October 6th 2023.

Many thanks for your involvement and support!

*Those needing support with inserting poster translations and/or logos, please contact WHRIN’s administrator to forwhrinetwork@gmail.com*

International Campaign for the Elimination of Violence against Women who Use Drugs (EVAWUD) 2023

WHRIN have released this position statement on issues facing women and gender diverse people who use drugs as we mature, to coincide with Zero Discrimination Day March 1, which is a day for people to speak up about discrimination and movement for change. Events and initiatives focus on the rights of people living with HIV, the LGBTQ+ community, people who use drugs and more. Notably, the theme for 2023 is “Save lives: Decriminalise”, a critical reform imperative echoed in this statement. We add our voices to the cry, highlighting the needs of women and gender diverse people who use drugs as we mature.

Drug use as we mature 

This briefing paper was developed through collaboration on an internship between the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN) and the International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW). The purpose of the paper is to promote discussion, learning, consensus-building, and advocacy among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) networks, activists, service providers and other stakeholders to improve rights and health outcomes for women who live with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and who use drugs.

This paper is based on a review of literature as well as a series of community interviews with women who use drugs who are living with HIV in different regions of the world as well as selected other stakeholders who work in the fields of HIV and harm reduction. The experience of women who use drugs and live with HIV along the HIV service continuum and factors that impact their health and rights are explored. The paper seeks to identify the key barriers faced and make recommendations on how to address them for improved health and rights outcomes.

Women who use drugs and who are living with HIV

This eighth edition of the IDPC webinar on the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) focuses on its 

66th Session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

 (CND), which will take place in Vienna from 13-17 March 2022.

This year’s session is a momentous one, convened against the backdrop of 

 resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and ongoing preparations for the mid-term review of the 2019 Ministerial declaration.

The webinar will shed light on these and other key issues that are likely to structure the debates, discuss tabled resolutions and opportunities for engagement (especially in light of the session’s hybrid format), and showcase the experience of IDPC network members in navigating and leveraging this forum for political advocacy.

This event will be available in English, Spanish and French.

Maria-Goretti Ane (International Drug Policy Consortium - IDPC)

Adrià Cots Fernández (International Drug Policy Consortium - IDPC)

Ruth Birgin (Women and Harm Reduction International Network - WHRIN)

CND 66: Key issues and opportunities

Coinciding with the United Nations international day to eliminate violence against women, and the subsequent 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign (25 November to 10 December), women who use drugs and their allies around the world, unified in their determination to stop systemic and gender-based violence against women who use drugs, again unleashed a diverse and dynamic series of actions. 

Women who use drugs are exposed to higher rates of violence than women in the general public. This violence includes, (but is not limited to) rape, sexual harassment, extortion, loss of child custody, imprisonment for mere personal possession, extra judicial killing, capital punishment, obstetric violence and penalisation for drug use in pregnancy. Prohibition either directly causes or greatly exacerbates conditions for all of these violations. Gender-based violence cannot be eliminated if those most affected are not directly and meaningfully involved at all levels in relevant policy and programming. 

Women who use drugs are boldly stepping out to take their place in the women’s movement and efforts to stop gender-based violence. Collectively we and our allies call for governments to end the gendered, failed and murderous policy of drug prohibition. 

A growing number of consortia actions and engagement with partners has further amplified engagement in 2022. The following summary (with hyperlinks) features some of the actions performed by women who use drugs and our allies around the world, in Portugal, Uganda, Greece, Ukraine, France, Serbia, Kenya, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Malawi, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Estonia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Moldova.Coinciding with the United Nations international day to eliminate violence against women, and the subsequent 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign (25 November to 10 December), women who use drugs and their allies around the world, unified in their determination to stop systemic and gender-based violence against women who use drugs, again unleashed a diverse and dynamic series of actions. Women who use drugs are exposed to higher rates of violence than women in the general public. This violence includes, (but is not limited to) rape, sexual harassment, extortion, loss of child custody, imprisonment for mere personal possession, extra judicial killing, capital punishment, obstetric violence and penalisation for drug use in pregnancy. Prohibition either directly causes or greatly exacerbates conditions for all of these violations. Gender-based violence cannot be eliminated if those most affected are not directly and meaningfully involved at all levels in relevant policy and programming. Women who use drugs are boldly stepping out to take their place in the women’s movement and efforts to stop gender-based violence. Collectively we and our allies call for governments to end the gendered, failed and murderous policy of drug prohibition. A growing number of consortia actions and engagement with partners has further amplified engagement in 2022. The following summary (with hyperlinks) features some of the actions performed by women who use drugs and our allies around the world, in Portugal, Uganda, Greece, Ukraine, France, Serbia, Kenya, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Malawi, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Estonia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Moldova.

EVAWUD22 Summary Report

With the International campaign for the elimination of violence against women 2022, the Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS (

) and the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (

) call for an end to all forms of violence against women who use drugs.

Women who use drugs, including trans and gender non-conforming people, are subject to extreme levels and a wide range of physical and psychological harm due to punitive prohibition of some substances in the EECA region and globally.State driven stigma, criminalisation and corruption drive substantive health and safety harms and act as barriers between women who use drugs and critical harm reduction and gender-based violence (GBV) services. Women who use drugs 

the rate experienced by other women in the general public. This violence includes, (but is not limited to) forced and coerced sterilisation and abortion, rape, sexual harassment, loss of child custody, imprisonment for mere personal possession or use, and other types of gendered violations, stigma and discrimination.

Women who use drugs around the world can face arbitrary detention, extortion, police violence, torture and ill-treatment, with over a third of women in prison incarcerated for drug offences globally. Due to the war on drugs, women survivors have little recourse and often no support, particularly in cases of violence from intimate partner, police, prison guards and medical staff. The experiences of violence against women who use drugs are even more extreme for those facing intersecting discrimination, such as HIV-positive women, women of colour, sex workers, LBT women or women with disability. These conditions have only worsened during COVID-19 restrictions which have created contexts that have escalated GBV without matching responses for women at risk or being exposed to violence.

EWNA and WHRIN note that by collaborating with groups of women who use drugs, supporting and documenting peer led actions and services, the appropriate responses to these inequities and violations are clear. Meaningful involvement of women who use drugs must feature as the cornerstone to all good practice responses in developing GBV services for women who use drugs.

As the criminalization of drug use and HIV stands as the primary barrier between women who use drugs and attainment of human rights including access to harm reduction, HIV prevention, treatment and care and other essential health services, decriminalisation is also imperative.Expansion of harm reduction and inclusion of violence mitigation and support services are also critical. Sexual and reproductive health is now promoted as an essential service that should be incorporated within the harm reduction suite of services for people who use drugs, and that best practice service delivery integrates  comprehensive GBV services.

EWNA and WHRIN call for an end to the war on drugs to end violence against women

Legislation and legal principles, procedures, policies, programmes and practices relating to criminal justice must be reviewed to determine if they are adequate to prevent and eliminate violence against women who use drugs or if they have a negative impact on women and, if they do, to modify them in order to ensure that women who use drugs enjoy fair and equal treatment.

Please join us in ensuring adequate resources and legislative frameworks to uphold the safety and human rights of women who use drugs.

End violence against women who use drugs: 2022 EVAWUD campaign

Women and gender diverse people who use drugs experiencing violence and/or homelessness, often face very restricted access to shelters. Commonly, women’s shelters apply a “zero tolerance” policy with respect to drug use and to refer people who use drugs to other services (which usually don’t exist, so people remain at risk of violence and unstable housing). Those who desperately need shelter and non-judgmental support are turned away at a time when they are most at risk. Many shelters feel they do not have the staff expertise to serve this population, without examining ways to overcome such concerns.

This workshop aims to provide a space for addressing such barriers to improve capacity for shelters to accommodate women and gender diverse people who use drugs. It is designed to provide information for shelters’ managers, policy makers and staff to:

Raise awareness among management of shelters and other relevant policy makers on the need to lower thresholds to meet the needs of women in all their diversity by accommodating clients who use drugs.

Provide management of shelters with insights and practical tools to lower thresholds to shelter access for clients who use drugs, while policy makers will gain insight on how to adjust policies to support improved access to shelters for those in need.

It is recognised that, in some contexts, supplementary Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) and other related capacity building will be needed to better enable inclusion for two spirited, trans, nonbinary and gender diverse people in shelters. This toolkit touches on key considerations while especially addressing barriers to inclusion for people who use drugs.

Addressing inclusion of women who use drugs in shelters

Advancing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women who use drugs is available here.

In 2020, the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN) and Frontline AIDS published the guide Advancing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women who use drugs, which has been translated into Bahasa Indonesia, French and Portuguese. This manual has been designed for workshop facilitators to train community-based and peer-led harm reduction service providers to put this guide into practice. 

To ensure community-based and peer-led organisations have ownership of this manual, a working group of partners from India, Kenya, Nepal and Nigeria contributed to the curriculum’s development at all stages. The headings, sub-topics and learning objectives have been discussed with and validated by members of this working group. Between July and October 2021, fortnightly meetings were held with the working group to ensure the training course is relevant and applicable. Working group members have also contributed to case studies, the design of workshop activities, and the key messages of each module.

Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN)

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