Violence by law enforcement agencies
When WUD are HIV positive and engage in sex work, discrimination and violence double and they become more vulnerable to violence by the police. In countries where drug use and sex work are criminalized, there is limited access to legal aid and basic health care and WUD are left powerless and unprotected at the hands of police.
Evidence indicates that WUD in the EECA region are the victims of police violence and of physical, emotional and sexual violence during and/or after detention. Human rights violations, including ill treatment and torture, are commonly used to get confessions or false testimonies. There is solid evidence of unjustified detentions, refusal of right to a lawyer and violation of personal security for WUD.
Police violence affects WUD in many ways, including serious and often life-threatening physical and psychological health problems. It increases stigma and discrimination against women and barriers to access health services, which contribute to the HIV epidemic. It also discredits police as an institution and contributes to expanding gender inequality and social injustice.
In 2014, the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) in partnership with organizations of women who inject drugs and HR organizations from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, launched a campaign to reduce or eliminate police violence against WUD. The objective was to raise awareness of law enforcement on police violence against WUD by building their capacity to document and communicate police violence.
Key initial activities included:
- Developing community-based online tools to document and report cases of police violence.
- Capacity-building for WUD to report about police violence.
- Using UN human rights instruments to advocate against police violence toward WUD.
- Organizing meetings with stakeholders, media and decision-makers to present results of data collection and mapping.
Outputs in later stages of the campaign included:
- Developing national and local strategies and action plans to respond to police violence against WUD.
- Establishing dialogue between WUD, decision makers and other stakeholders.
For more information and materials EHRA aimed at WUD, click here: https://harmreductioneurasia.org/harm-reduction/women-who-use-drugs. The site is available in English and Russian.
Female sex workers who use drugs
Drug using sex workers constitute another vulnerable group needing special attention and specific services. There is the risk that the working standard of safer sex, and setting ones’ own limits, may be compromised; safer sex is often not considered as a top priority for WUD engaged in sex work. Services set up specifically for WUD engaged in sex work should differ from the services in other sex workers organizations.
Most organizations focus on drug issues (e.g. HR), whilst sex work aspects are addressed only in the second place.