Female drug users are at risk of being groomed into sex work and other forms of exploitation when they attend treatment programmes with men, according to new research.
Some women reported feeling vulnerable to “predatory males” in mixed groups where they were often outnumbered two-to-one by men, but said they were not given an option to access women-only treatment programmes.
One treatment worker compared these groups to “a hunting ground” for men, while others described women being groomed into sex work after being targeted by male drug users, according to the new research from the Centre for Justice Innovation and Staffordshire University.
The research, which involved in-depth interviews with 28 female drug users and 20 workers at drug treatment centres in three local authorities in the West Midlands, found that women were at risk of being targeted by abusers in services that were “chaotic, intimidating or unsafe”.
Close links between substance misuse and traumatic experiences, such as childhood sexual abuse or domestic abuse, were identified as making women particularly vulnerable if they were treated alongside men. Women also experienced a greater burden of stigma around substance use and were more likely to have childcare responsibilities.
“Women … talked about engaging in sex work as a result of coercion from male drug-using partners,” the report states. “They also talked about how women were targeted in mixed services by males who would groom women into sex work activity.”
The research calls for a new specialist approach to treatment for women which keeps them safe while they try to tackle their addiction. Issues such as sexual violence are particularly difficult for women to raise in the presence of male drug users.
The report found that barriers to accessing treatment were particularly pronounced for women from some minority communities, including women of south Asian or eastern European backgrounds. To give women the best chance of recovering from addiction, drivers of their substance misuse – such as trauma and abuse – needed to be aired in spaces where they feel safe, such as in female-only settings.
The West Midlands police and crime commissioner, Simon Foster, who co-funded the research along with the Jabbs Foundation and the Nelson Trust, a charity providing specialist treatment services to women in the south-west of England, said: “Overcoming addiction to alcohol or drugs is an immensely difficult challenge – and this is made even harder for women, who face wider issues which can prevent their ability to engage with treatment services. The findings in this research will contribute to the development of more effective and tailored treatment.”
The chief operating officer of the Nelson Trust, Christina Line, said: “The study’s findings in the West Midlands precisely mirror the experience of women with substance misuse issues who access our women’s centres across the south-west. The recommendations show that through a gendered response, women can be appropriately supported to successfully complete treatment.”
