In the shadows: The Chanura Kol baseline study on women who inject drugs in Manipur, India

In partnership with the Social Awareness Service Organization (SASO), Alliance India supports the implementation of the Chanura Kol project in three sites in Manipur, India. Funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), Chanura Kol is designed to mitigate the impact of drug use and HIV/AIDS on women who inject drugs. Specifically, the programme aims to meet their immediate information, health, protection and psychosocial needs, enhance access to harm reduction services for women who inject drugs and their partners, pilot and support economic rehabilitation and social integration, reduce stigma and discrimination attached to injecting drug use (IDU) and HIV, and develop a supportive environment by strengthening civil society through institutional capacity building.

The present study was conducted to explore and better understand issues such as demographic characteristics, family structures and support, social exclusion, sexual and injecting behaviour, and accessibility, knowledge of and availability of services among women who inject drugs in Manipur.

The findings confirm that women who inject drugs have largely been neglected by current efforts. This group experiences significantly inadequate access to information and services to meet the full range of their needs (drug-, HIV-, sexual and reproductive healthand general health-related). Furthermore, exclusion, stigma and discrimination and violence are part of their daily existence, which alongside unsafe injecting and sexual behaviour make them vulnerable not only to HIV infection but also contributes to their poor health and well-being overall.

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