On 10 December 2019, International Human Rights Day and the end of the UN’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, the Women’s Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN)* and TalkingDrugs published a position paper on women who use drugs and violence by law enforcement agencies.
Gender, violence and drug use
This position paper serves as a starting point for joining forces to identify and address the specific needs of women who experience violence at the hands of law enforcement agencies. It is also an act of solidarity and a call to action to find new and urgent solutions to reduce harm to women who use drugs.
The war on drugs is supported by criminal justice systems, and people of different genders experience violence and humiliation from law enforcement every day because of their experiences with drug use. However, people with marginalised gender identities experience particular forms of violence, regardless of whether we use drugs ourselves or are directly affected by drug laws. As a result, women and gender non-conforming people are constantly at risk of gender-based violence, even if they do not use drugs. And stigma and discrimination against people who use drugs means that we are denied access to or continue to be abused in supposed ‘safe spaces’ if we use drugs.
Проявления насилия включают в себя (но не ограничиваются) изнасилование, сексуальные домагательства, утрату опеки над детьми, тюремные заключения за хранение психоактивных веществ для личного употребления, внесудебные убийства, смертную казнь и арест за употребление наркотиков во время беременности или родительства. На стыке гендерно обусловленного насилия и запрета наркотиков происходят специфические формы насилия, требующие соответственного специфического ответа на них.
The abolitionist paradigm
This position paper does not offer recommendations for addressing violence. Rather, it serves as a common ground for gathering resources and strategies for organisations and individual activists to develop responses to violence against women and gender non-conforming people who use drugs by law enforcement agencies, according to their local context.
For two reasons:
- Strategies for healing from violence and reducing its harm vary depending on the geographical and legislative context. Each community of women and gender non-conforming people must develop strategies based on the experiences of those who experience violence.
- Strategies change depending on external factors. It therefore makes sense to propose a concept that can be applied in different and changing contexts, both in the short and long term. Such a paradigm is based on a political understanding of violence and the response to it. Once the key principles of the community’s response to violence are clear, strategy development becomes a more straightforward process and its results more impactful and sustainable. For the purposes of this position paper, we propose using the political paradigm of abolitionism in responding to violence by law enforcement against women and gender non-conforming people who use drugs.
Abolitionism is a movement for a world without police, prisons, and surveillance. In practice, this means developing ways to respond to violence and the harm it causes, developing ways to heal the harm, and mechanisms for accountability for the harm we ourselves cause. We need answers that allow people who have experienced violence to heal from their experiences. We need answers that allow us to look at the root causes of this violence by changing our own formal and informal attitudes towards imprisonment and criminal justice as the only way to create safe communities.
In the context of drug policy, this means focusing efforts on decriminalising drug use, possession and supply so that women and gender non-conforming people who use drugs are protected from police violence in drug-related matters. Ending prohibitionist policies is an important part of creating safe communities. In response to violence by law enforcement against women and gender non-conforming people who use drugs, we can use the principles of harm reduction philosophy. Focusing on reforms — such as criminalising law enforcement for the harm they cause — that support the very system we want to change.
Instead of punishing people who commit violence (which can start a cycle of violence that does not prevent further violence), we can choose to use our often limited resources to support communities in developing new ways to heal from and respond to violence. We can choose to focus on the causes of gender-based violence, as well as the stigma and discrimination experienced by people who use drugs.
Regularly working on the root causes of the harm we experience can be both a daily practice and a long-term strategy for achieving lasting change for ourselves and the communities we live in.
Space for reform ideas
Our reform ‘idea board’ aims to make the long-term goals of ending prohibition, police persecution, prisons and surveillance (as well as finding urgent, practical alternatives to respond to violence) more achievable.
We support the idea of overcoming the multi-layered stigma and discrimination faced by women and gender non-conforming people who use drugs, and creating conditions for the expansion of intersectional and accessible harm reduction resources and services that support all women and gender non-conforming people who use drugs. This includes those who have been indirectly affected by violence from law enforcement through partners, family or community, as well as those who have been directly affected.
One of the most acute barriers faced by women and gender non-conforming people who use drugs is the lack (or limited number) of accessible spaces where our complex and intersecting needs can be met.
For example, there are many services that are supposed to be “safe spaces” for women and gender non-conforming people who use drugs, but in reality, violent practices such as isolation, forced withdrawal and forced treatment are commonplace.
This could be a women’s shelter that stigmatises people who use drugs, or a harm reduction programme that promotes homophobic or transphobic ideas, or simply programmes that do not have services to help those who have experienced physical or sexual violence.
There are countless examples of places that are completely inaccessible to people with certain disabilities or places that are hostile to sex workers. Many services are unable to provide services to people without citizenship.
Therefore, we must ensure that through our work, women and gender non-conforming people who use drugs and who also suffer from poverty, racism, transphobia, homophobia, fatphobia, sexual violence, classism, as well as discrimination against people with disabilities and discrimination against sex workers, are not forgotten and their needs are not devalued, but rather that they are respected, listened to and defended.
If we do not stand up for all of us, we will be supporting the marginalisation and harm that we ourselves are fighting against. Below are resources and case studies developed by women and gender non-conforming people, people who use drugs, people racially discriminated against, abolitionists and transformative justice advocates, and trans-feminist community leaders that will be useful for developing your own recommendations and responses to police violence in your context.
Resources and case studies
Urban Survivors Union, United States
The White Cross team was created as a response team for people who use drugs, but in the course of their work, it became clear that women were most in need of such services.
Women who use drugs often work and live in the shadow economy, and calling 911 in an emergency can mean even greater danger, especially when the police are called.
Since our harm reduction services are legal, some types of work have become more difficult than when we were an underground organisation. We cannot advertise our services, so they are mainly available to our members and the homeless community.
We believe it is important to reduce the harm caused by contact with the police and the prison system. To this end, we conduct ‘know your rights’ training sessions. We also work together to develop realistic scenarios for minimising contact with the police. We also provide instructions on how to reduce the risks of unavoidable encounters with the police. We ask our members to document and record all negative encounters to help us fight for the abolition of prisons and bring about change.
Union members undergo training in restorative justice circles, community circles, and healing circles. We learn as we work. We understand that we are taking risks by doing this work, so we go out in groups and we know that we are safer if the police are not around. We respond to overdoses, dispose of drugs, help resolve crises and conflicts, strengthen community ties, and provide accountability for our members.
The crisis in policing and police behaviour cannot be ignored. We must make efforts to prevent injuries, deaths, and unnecessary arrests.
Contact: Louise – louise@urbansurvivorsunion.org
COUNTERfit, Toronto, Canada
We often receive reports of violence against women who use drugs and sex workers. The perpetrators are often partners, but also police officers themselves. Reporting such incidents to the police is ineffective and potentially more dangerous. We offer other options for support. We have women on staff who provide support and gender-specific counselling. Every week, we hold breakfast meetings for women who use drugs, where they can safely share information and receive support.
We also work with Maggie’s, a Toronto sex worker action project (run entirely by local sex workers). Maggie’s publishes and distributes the Black Book of Dates, where sex workers send information about dangerous clients to inform the entire sex worker community.
Contact: Riannon – rthomas@srchc.com
General safety strategies in Sweden
Inspired by the #MeToo movement, an initiative led by women who use drugs was created to ensure safety on the streets. It is a simple initiative that is easy to organise locally, requiring only money for printing as a resource.
We (women who use drugs) organised ourselves into a Facebook group and began sharing experiences, asking for advice and support – an online self-help group was created for women who use drugs and are involved in the sex industry, with a focus on safety. The group is moderated by women from a local organisation. Through our online and offline networks, we collected stories from women who use drugs and interviewed women leaving needle exchange points and OST programmes.
We identified a list of typical situations and scenarios with the highest likelihood of violence and asked the women: ‘What can you do to protect yourself in these specific dangerous situations?’ As a result, we developed a flyer with advice on what to do and what not to do.
We distribute flyers in waiting rooms of clinics, social services, and harm reduction organisations. And, of course, we hand them out to women we know. Over time, changes need to be made to the text.
Contact: Christina – kikkipaulsrud@gmail.com or Anke – Anke.Stallwits@eh-freiburg.ekiba.de
Club Eney, Ukraine
Our task was to find partners among human rights activists, authorities, public organisations and community representatives to join forces in the fight against gender-based violence. We needed to clarify the algorithm of actions for women who use drugs if we refer them to a harm reduction programme or other services. We implemented the WINGS methodology in our harm reduction programmes, according to which outreach workers refer women to WINGS groups, where community facilitators work and training is provided for women who have experienced violence. We also have psychologists in friendly organisations.
Unfortunately, we do not have a shelter for women who use drugs because the rules in shelters for women who have experienced violence discriminate against drug users. However, women who use drugs can be admitted to one of the shelters with the support of a social worker. There are also churches that provide temporary accommodation for women who use drugs. We do not have safe spaces for women who use drugs, but women can receive help and counselling at community centres (offices of public organisations).
We also operate a hotline for consultations with psychologists. When a woman who uses drugs has a need, she can contact our organisation, Club Eney, a harm reduction service provider, to receive support, participate in WINGS sessions, develop a personal safety plan, and obtain information about shelters, psychologists, and friendly doctors.
Contact: Velta – velta.parhomenko@gmail.com
Metzineres, Barcelona, Spain
Metzineres is a shelter for women who use drugs and have experienced violence. Barcelona, Spain.
Metzineres uses an approach for women who use drugs, who experience multiple and intertwined factors of social isolation and do not have access to social and health services.
These factors may include homelessness, a history of violence, sex work, undocumented migrant status, and transgender identity, all of which can increase vulnerability to police violence.
Our approach includes a full range of harm reduction services at the Medzineris Drop-in Centre, including a safe space for drug use, beds for daytime rest, and social and medical support.
For those who need it, we provide assistance in accessing more specialised care, organising referrals and accompaniment to detoxification centres, OST programmes, psychiatric services, inpatient services for survivors of violence, and other services.
In addition, we conduct training, cultural, and recreational activities, utilising a wide range of opportunities for self-healing, rebuilding relationships, sharing wisdom, self-defence, solidarity, and mutual support. Through these activities, we aim to create safe spaces for women based on self-sufficiency and self-governance.
Контакт: metzineres@metzineres.org
SisterSpace, Vancouver, Canada
The centre is based on the idea that women who use drugs need to have a safe space. More details can be found here.
We interviewed the centre’s staff, who talk about the problem of violence against women, and created a short video about the connections.
Source: http://bccewh.bc.ca/
Queer Appalachia Harm Reduction Project, USA.
The Queer Appalachia project sheds light on the relevance of the opioid crisis in the United States and emphasises that no one — regardless of their addiction status — should be forgotten. In the Appalachia region, opioid use is growing exponentially, and there is no one left who has not played a role in this process. Being a queer person in a rural area already means isolation and condemnation, and opioid addiction further exacerbates this experience.
The number of people with substance use issues in the queer community has grown significantly. That is why we have started not only to talk, but also to take action, rather than waiting for the authorities to do what they should be doing.
The Queer Appalachia project provides harm reduction services and training to members of our community. Together with the Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition, we have a mobile unit. We offer Narcane (nasal naloxone), naloxone, home HIV tests, fentanyl tests, emergency contraception, sharps disposal containers, rapid hepatitis C testing, and much more.
Email: queerappalachia@gmail.com
Website: https://www.queerappalachia.com/
If you have case studies or other resources that could be added to this list, please let us know!
Contact: rlbirgin@yahoo.com.au
* The Women’s Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN) is a global platform for expanding the use of gender-sensitive harm reduction programmes. The key idea behind WHRIN’s work is that all those who identify as women who use drugs should have full access to quality and appropriate medical, social and legal services in the context of human rights, without stigma, discrimination or criminalisation.
