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Gill Bradbury
(who also provided conference
medical services) presented a poster about
the needs of marginalised women in Nepal.
She spoke about her role in giving technical
advice and support to Dristi Nepal
MANY FEMALE DRUG USERS IN NEPAL
endure sexual, physical
and mental abuse in supporting their drug habits, and are trapped in
a drug dependent and deprived lifestyle. They are denied access to
good nutrition, healthcare and education, making them vulnerable to
sexual exploitation, poor health and HIV. The government turns a
blind eye, failing to protect those in most need of support.
Dristi Nepal offer advocacy, support and harm reduction services
to female drug users. Founded in 2006 by a small group of female
ex-users and led by programme director, Parina Limbu Subba, they
try to offer positive role models, peer mentoring and a feminist
approach based on personal empowerment – as well as fighting HIV
and viral hepatitis.
They have provided a range of services over the years but have
been unable to develop comprehensive services because of funding
constraints. This has meant service provision can be inconsistent –
currently they’re only operating a drop-in centre, needle and syringe
programme, outreach and peer education services.
Women are second-class citizens in Nepal. They live within a male-
dominated, patriarchal society, which continues to influence not just
their status and value, but also the extent of treatment and care. Girls
can be seen as a burden to the family and are increasingly trafficked
across the border to India to
work in the sex industry. At
least 40 per cent of
trafficked women, when
repatriated, are HIV positive
and many are abandoned
by their families and shun -
ned by their community.
It’s not known how many
women have a drug problem
in Nepal, nor how many are
HIV positive and/or infected
with hepatitis C – there’s no
reliable data. Women remain
the most marginalised
group in society, particularly
FDUs, women living with
HIV and women who work
in the sex industry – a disregard that threatens public health and
creates a significant disease burden.
FDUs need targeted services and gender-sensitive care, coupled
with awareness-raising campaigns. They must be made to feel less
isolated, and empowered to address their drug-using behaviour.
There are few residential rehabilitation centres that focus on the
needs of women, and they are only affordable to a minority. Women
need access to crisis and stabilisation centres, free detoxification
and rehabilitation programmes to achieve abstinence, including
aftercare services and employment opportunities.
Thursday 7 April 2011 – DAY FOUR –
Daily Update
– 5
Reaching out to women in Nepal
Gill Bradbury:
‘Women are second-
class citizens in Nepal.’
Ahead of the session on
Sex work – the police,
policies and the law
,
Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Jenn
Clamen and Kara Gillies
tell the Daily Update
about challenging Canada’s prostitution laws to
create safer working conditions for sex workers
PROSTITUTION ITSELF IS NOT ILLEGAL IN CANADA
, but the
criminalisation of many prostitution-related activities leaves sex
workers vulnerable to violence and exploitation. It makes protected
work spaces illegal, and pushes sex workers into dangerous
situations. In an effort to promote their rights and reduce harms, sex
workers in Canada have been fighting for the decriminalisation of
prostitution-related activities since the 1970s. In 2007, three current
and former sex workers in Ontario used years of sex workers’
research and experience to take this fight to the courts.
The applicants challenged three sections of the criminal law
that, they argued, violated their constitutionally protected rights to
liberty, security and freedom of expression. They reasoned that
provisions against ‘keeping a bawdy house, living off the avails of
prostitution and public communication for prostitution’ created
legal prohibitions on their safety.
In September 2010, an Ontario trial court struck down those
provisions of the criminal law, finding that they were
unconstitutional because they forced sex workers to choose
between their right to liberty and their right to security of the
person. The judge concluded that the provisions ‘prevent
prostitutes from taking precautions, some extremely rudimentary,
that can decrease the risk of violence towards them.’
While the Canadian government has appealed against this
ruling and the law will remain in force at least until the appeal is
heard in June 2011, the court ruling underscores the importance of
law reform in protecting sex workers’ safety. In British Columbia, a
concurrent constitutional challenge of Canada’s prostitution laws is
also taking place. Rights-based litigation may be one approach to
challenging laws that impede sex workers’ health and equality.
Once criminal laws are removed, sex worker leadership in policy
development will be essential to ensuring that subsequent
regulations do not reproduce the harms and rights violations that
sex workers fought to overcome.
Challenging archaic laws for greater equality