The campaign to eliminate violence against women and gender diverse people who use drugs (EVAWUD) coincides with the annual United Nations 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign (25 November to 10 December). The United Nations effort has not historically highlighted the extreme rates of violence experienced in all its manifestations by women and gender diverse people who use drugs, however the EVAWUD campaign aims to correct this failure.
In ongoing collaboration between WHRIN, YouthRISE, EuroNPUD and national level allies, EVAWUD is growing year on year with increasing rates of engagement, all harnessing the resilience of our communities in united indignation to spotlight and end gender-based violence. This report highlights EVAWUD24 actions in Indonesia, Australia, Nigeria, Poland, Colombia, Kenya, Ukraine, Mexico, Malaysia, Spain, Burundi, Italy, Portugal and the Asia Region, in a collective action.
Prohibition combined with patriarchy and gender inequity either directly causes or greatly exacerbates conditions for violence against our community, yet gender-based violence cannot be eliminated if those most affected are not explicitly and meaningfully involved in relevant policy and programming. Women and gender diverse people who use drugs are boldly stepping out to take their place in efforts to protect our communities. Collectively we and our allies call for governments to end the gendered, failed and murderous policy of drug prohibition as part of essential gender equality goals.
A growing number of consortia actions and engagement with partners has further amplified engagement. The following summary (with embedded hyperlinks) features some of the actions performed by women and gender diverse people who use drugs around the world in the EVAWUD24 Campaign.