Comprehensive approaches to eradicate GBV for women who use drugs
Advocacy efforts should focus on eliminating the stigma around drug use and gender-based violence, while pushing for policy changes that protect the rights of women who use drugs. Empowering these women through education, legal assistance, and social support systems can help break the cycle of violence, and provide them with the tools to reclaim their lives and their voices.
Long-lasting change requires that communities be included in the conversation around GBV and drug use and that their answers be based on personal experience. We elevate the voices of women who use drugs and promote the laws and police that will safeguard and empower them by giving them a forum to tell their story.
To address this violence that women experience, we need to create a more inclusive and supportive environment. Offering accessible harm reduction services . These services should include include trauma-informed care,which acknowledges the intersectionality of GBV and safe drug use ,and provide the mental and emotional support necessary for healing.
Women who use drugs face unique challenges, as they are often marginalized and subjected to both societal stigma and violence, making it harder for them to seek help and access necessary resources.GBV against women who use drugs includes phyical; excessive force or beating during arrest, emotional and psychological ;public isolation and sometimes dehumanization through public humiliation and structural violence; where women who use drugs are sometimes denied needed healthcare services and forced to rehabilitation facilities.
