Women’s Health and Harm Reduction: Communities Working Together to Save Lives

Many women who inject drugs face discrimination on the basis of both drug use and gender, increasing their vulnerability to HIV, violence, and other harms. As documented in this fact sheet published by the International Harm Reduction Development Program, punitive policies and practices from governments, health care systems, and law enforcement, among others, drive women drug users away from life-saving care, and have a particularly negative impact on pregnant and parenting drug users and their children. When women drug users do reach services—whether at a site offering needle exchange and other services to reduce the harms associated with drug use, a drug treatment center, a women's health clinic, or a women's shelter—they often find them unwelcoming and poorly-suited to their needs.

The complete fact sheet—one version with footnotes, one without—is available for download.