2023-11-24 10:31:03
Addictions and gender violence “are elements associated in both senses” that require comprehensive and personalized attention in each case. This is the main demand of the “Piece by Piece” campaign of UNAD (Addiction Care Network) on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, on November 25.
Image of the UNAD campaign on addictions and gender violence. Photo provided
UNAD, which integrates more than two hundred organizations and serves more than 38,000 affected people and their families, disagrees that the problem of women with addictions who are victims of gender violence is addressed in a “piecemeal manner.”
They denounce the “institutional violence that these women experience daily by hindering their right to receive a true response to the problems they suffer.”
For this reason, the UNAD network asks that each case be treated individually, taking into account the factors that come together in each woman (mental health, prison, work environment, migration…) to provide articulated and quality care.
Assistance that entails “effective coordination of resources and professional people” that care for women as part of a whole, always keeping the gender perspective in mind.
That is, fit piece by piece the reality of each woman, hence the name of the campaign.
According to data cited by UNAD based on existing studies, it is estimated that more than 60% of drug-dependent women have suffered sexual violence by men during the period of consumption, as well as sexual abuse during their childhood and adolescence.
Internationally, this percentage increases to 74% of women in substance abuse treatment.
For him president of this NGO network, Luciano Poyatoviolence against women significantly affects those with addictions, their frequency of victimization being much higher than that of other social segments.
In her opinion, the gender violence suffered by women with addictions must be understood “as the structural violence exerted on women for the mere fact of being women and the result of unequal power relations historically constructed between men and women.”
“But never,” he adds, “as a consequence of their problematic consumption, even though this situation makes them more vulnerable.”
Network ONE D It also highlights the need to promote early detection to address gender violence and addictions in a comprehensive way and has called on public powers to request commitment at all levels and to be able to carry this out with territorial equity.
UNAD has published this November a protocol aimed at improving joint care for addictions and gender violence.
The guide presents a series of indications to identify possible episodes of violence in women receiving treatment for a drug addiction problem.
Profile of addiction victims
On the other hand, the report “Profile of addictions in 2022. Attention to users of the UNAD network”, presented last July, reflects the x-ray of women with addictions, in general.
The sample has been contributed by 99 entities that belong to the network and serve more than 47,000 people.
Women with a substance addiction He is between 34 and 41 years old, without studies and unemployed. The most common thing is that she has sons or daughters and resides in a home owned by her or the family member with whom she lives.
The main drugs that lead her to seek treatment are, first of all, alcohol, followed by cocaine. The age at which consumption begins is between 18 and 25 years and they present some type of psychological illness.
As for the men with substance addictions, the profile coincides with that of women, except that they do have primary education, live in a rented property and do not have sons or daughters. The drugs they consume the most are cocaine and heroin and they have done so since they were minors.
EFE/Sáshenka Gutiérrez
Regarding substanceless addictions, the profile of women is marked, in a third of cases, by an age of less than 18 years, working or studying and not having children. Bingo is their main in-person addiction, followed by slot machines, while in the online aspect, video games and online bingo are the main addictive practices.
As for the men, The age increases to the range between 18 and 49 years, he works and does not have children. In this case, sports betting machines are the main addiction, followed by slot machines. For its part, online sports betting is the main virtual addictive practice.
According to UNAD, in both men and women, the most common non-substance addiction outside of everything that gambling involves is social networks.
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