What motivates you to work with women who use drugs? I’m from Mallorca where we have a very serious problem with the use of injectable drugs, especially heroin. I experienced it very closely. At the age of eighteen I lost a friend to an overdose and the number of friends lost as a result has…
Can you tell us about your interest in women and harm reduction? Women who use drugs (WUD) in Africa are subject to many demeaning labels such as being an incompetent and careless mother, a bad, valueless and sinful woman. Punitive drug policies add another label for WUD, that of a criminal. These labels cause women…
Can you tell us about your involvement with CAHMA? I am the Community Development Operations manager at CAHMA (Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy). I run a community development project which aims to provide new professional opportunities for people who use drugs and ATOD (alcohol, tobacco and other drugs) treatment – volunteering, mentoring, skilling…
How was the group formed and what are the main reasons? In Myanmar women who use/inject drugs have a higher risk of blood borne virus transmission, higher mortality rates and experience additional layers of stigma and discrimination compared with men who inject drugs. Most women who use drugs (WUD) in Myanmar have difficulty in accessing…
Could you please introduce yourself and explain how you came to join Club Eney? Hello, my name is Velta Parkhomenko. Currently I am the Project Manager, and Chair of Club Eney, a Ukraine based Harm Reduction NGO. I am also Vice Chair of the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN), an activist with the…
What was your ‘pull’ to work in this sector? In South Africa the rate of femicide and gender based violence (GBV) is the highest in the world. Women who use drugs (WUD) are even more at risk of experiencing these grave crimes when considering socio-economic status, living conditions and punitive drug policies. Seeing at risk…
Can you tell me a bit about yourself and why you are involved in harm reduction work? Joelle Puccio: I got into Harm Reduction for a school assignment to write a paper about service work,and then kept coming back for 11 years. I was drawn to the needle exchange because I had been in somany…
Can you please introduce yourself and explain the work of SisterSpace? My name is Janice Abbott and I am the CEO of the Atira Group of Women Serving Agencies, the parent entity of which is Atira Women’s Resource Society. I have been the CEO for 29 years as of September 28th, 2021. More about me…
Ruth Birgin coordinates the Women and Harm Reduction International Network according to which drug policy presents the single greatest threat to the health and well-being of women who use drugs. Can you introduce yourself and explain the work of the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN)? Ruth: Certainly. My name is Ruth Birgin and I…
As WHRIN Vice Chair, I would like to share my experience of participation in the webinar “Developing Gender-Sensitive Addiction Programmes”. Some background: Dianova and the World Federation Against Drugs published an infographic that sets out what they identify as barriers to drug treatment for women and propose ways to overcome them, click here. After publication…
Art from the Heart1 of Canberra Showcasing the resilience of people who use drugs in the struggle of the war against drugs. A sustainable art project successfully addressing stigmatisation. Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy, Australia Since the beginning of the war on drugs, governments and media have created a negative representation of people…
