EMCDDA webinar: Women and drugs in Europe — why gender matters?

Background: Women make up approximately a third of people who experiment with drugs and a quarter of all people with serious drug problems. They are particularly likely to experience stigma, social marginalisation and economic disadvantage. In recent years, the gender gap has been narrowing among people using alcohol, but trends are less clear in the case of illicit drugs. Gender as a social structure plays an important role in women’s pathways towards drug use and addiction and this has to be considered in research and interventions.

Objective: The webinar will discuss: trends in drug use behaviours among women and differences across population groups and in the life-course, highlighting the role played by gender in women’s behaviours and experiences.

A conversation with:

• Cristiana Vales Pires, Universidade Católica do Porto, Portugal
• Sarah Morton, Director of the Community Partnership Drugs Programme, University College, Ireland
• Judy Chang, Executive Director of the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD), The Netherlands
• Cristina Fabre, European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), Lithuania (tbc)

Chairperson: Linda Montanari

Opening and closing remarks: Alexis Goosdeel

Format: EMCDDA opening remarks, panelists’ questions, guided discussion, Q&A from attendees.

The following questions will be addressed:

1. What are the trends in drug use patterns among women across settings and in the life course?
2. What is the perception of those changes among women who use drugs?
3. How does gender, as a social structure, play a role in influencing trends and changes in drug use patterns?

Q&A

Length: 1.5 hours

Participants: The webinar is open to EMCDDA staff members, the Reitox network and external individuals. Participation is possible upon registration, after which the person will receive a link to connect.

Date: 30 March 2022 | 12.00-13.30 Lisbon time (13.00–14.30 CET).

Platform: Zoom

Link for registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Wp_HOh0wQqSoJkZucZe9ig