Women who use drugs, HIV and harm reduction

The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS (GCWA), the International Network of Women who Use Drugs (INWUD), and the Women’s Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN) are pleased to present a new issue brief regarding women who use drugs on HIV, harm reduction and sexual and reproductive health and rights. This briefing paper is unique in that it is the first to be generated by a global coalition working on issues specific to women who use drugs and HIV more broadly, and has been developed and written by members of the INWUD with collaboration WHRIN, in line with GCWA's commitment to giving voice to vulnerable affected groups.

This brief seeks to bring attention to policies, laws and practices that undermine the rights of women who use drugs, and to promote the realisation of their human rights in terms of an effective harm reduction response to HIV. The brief also outlines some of the challenges specific to protecting women who use drugs from HIV transmission that need to be considered when designing interventions, as well as the principles that must be upheld when striving to meet the goal set in the declaration, and lists recommended actions for moving forward from the programmatic level, through to national policy and global responses.

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