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DAILY UPDATE
DAY THREE
Wednesday 6 April 2011
‘WOMEN’S HARM REDUCTION IS A PROBLEM
ALL OVER THE WORLD – there is a gap be-
tween consciousness and reality,’ said Anne
Coppel, chairing yesterday’s session on
Building a women-centred harm reduction
response
.
Sophie Pinkham (
second right
) looked at
overcoming stereotypes to respond to the needs of
women who use drugs, and drew on her experience
working with women in Eastern Europe. Research
showed that women had a greater history of sexual
and physical violence, so it was important to create a
safe and participatory atmosphere to draw them into
services, she said.
Offering practical support to mothers could help
build positive relationships with them about issues
beyond drug use, while networks of trusted
healthcare providers could help to counter past
negative experiences. ‘We have to knock down
barriers of fear,’ she said. ‘Make collaborative
relationships – teach them that narcologists can be
their friends. If you can improve people’s heath the
opportunity for positive change can evolve.’
Katya Burns (
right
) looked at improving harm
reduction programmes for women in resource-
constrained settings, using her experience of
training in Islamabad. Women drug users were often
at risk of extreme violence, and many women who
had been given bloodborne viruses by their drug-
injecting husbands were prevented by them from
receiving treatment, she said.
Extreme poverty and weak healthcare systems
in many countries meant that some women did not
attend services at all. ‘You have to understand the
national and local context you’re operating in,’ said
Ms Burns. ‘We need gender-specific guidelines and
targeted measures.’
Jennifer Kelsall (
left
) gave insight to the issues
faced by female drug users, both from her own
experiences over 20 years and those of other
women. ‘I wanted to look at how we construct our
identity as injecting drug users and how we juggle
conflicting roles,’ she said. ‘We are survivors,
retaining control over our destinies,’ – yet adding
injecting drug use to the mix could make things very
grim. ‘Women with children are denounced and
subjected to disapproval and vilification. They are
forced underground to hide their drug use,’ she said.
Ruth Birgin (second left) explained support for
women who use drugs through two networks,
INWUD and WHRIN – see Monday’s issue of Daily
Update, page 6.
Women’s issues to the fore
HIGHLIGHTS
Tuesday 5 April
MAJOR SESSIONS
9.00-10.30
Banquet Hall 1 & 2
Sex work – challenges in peer
involvement and harm reduction
The obstacles faced by sex
workers from Canada, Palestine,
Macedonia and the USA.
14.00-15.30
Banquet Hall 1 & 2
The harms of criminalisation
Punitive enforcement of drug laws
around the world.
16.00-17.30
Banquet Hall 3
Key issues and innovations in
harm reduction practice
New ideas for safer injecting and
behaviour change.
DIALOGUE SPACE
12.30-13.00:
Launch of the
International Journal on Human
Rights and Drug Policy
.
13.00-14.00:
Decriminalisation in
Portugal – Joao Castel-Branco
Goulao, Portuguese Drugs Czar.
14.00-15.00:
Meet the leaders:
The Global Fund and partners.
15.00-15.30:
INPUD: structural
violence, stigma, discrimination
and drug user organising.
15.30-16.00:
Meet the sex worker
activists.
16.00-16.30:
DIY detox.
16.30-17.30:
Naloxone panel.
DEMONSTRATION AREA
10.30-11.00:
Overdose response
12.30-13.00:
Female condoms
13.00-13.30:
Tobacco harm
reduction
13.30-14.00:
Needles and syringes
15.30-16.00:
Crack cocaine harm
reduction