Head of UNICRI

UNICRI advances crime related problems and supports international human rights standards and works on justice reform, money laundering, human trafficking, environmental crime, substance misuse etc… Gender equality is now also at the top of the UN agenda. Gender mainstreaming has become central to our activities. Our research shows women who have been have been through such trauma are far more likely to do drugs. We need and are promoting a gender sensitive approach which we will do through this project. Need international cooperation to support this cause.

UNODC:

The political declaration of 2009 has lead to new undertakings of measures to tackle discrimination against women. However, we have very little data on drug dependence on women. Treatment services to women are often not available and stigma still exists and means women don’t show up accurately in statistics, as they are mostly derived from treatment figures.

Women need very specialised services addressing full sexual reproductive health, mental health, child care etc… We must also address the influence of the parents of female drug users which can have a variety of impacts. Women are more vulnerable to HIV and this should be addresses through this project.
Women IDU who have children will need specialised care and them often having weaker socio-economic resources needs to be addressed and we will be concentrating on women prisoners who are especially vulnerable to a variety of negative problems.
EU Commission Representative.

The gender issues should be part of European Union policies.

Country experience:

France: Drug use creates different challenges for the health of women. 70% of women drug users have been victims of sexual abuse. Males are often the main influence on women drug use. Our women’s programs focus on educational, childcare etc.. programs.
We provide extra budget and trainings for various professionals working with women, often based in home settings to deal with children issue and lack of mobility.
New national action plan in development…More hospital training with staff and special programs for pregnant women. Gender approach to preventions.

USA: National action plan: Target women in vulnerable areas. Protection during and after conflicts. Improve decision making ability. Works to implement gender equality programs to improve social and economic life. In Congo, we have a program training
police in addressing gender based violence. Kenya Pakistan and Afghanistan have other programs managed by the US.

Pompidou group:

Women face more barriers to treatment, no job, no income, often have child to look after. Childcare situation improvement is vital to progress. Womens position in prisons is particularly troublesome and need specialist prison care.