DAPHNE II Programme 2004-2008

Drug use and sexual abuse

Research, exchange of good practice, training to prevent violence on drug-addicted women

Project Synthesis:

General goal
The project aims at giving a contribution to decrease the number of sexual abuses towards drug–addicted women, by raising the awareness on this issue, by collecting data, studies and information about the relationship between drug use and sexual abuse, by promoting the exchange of good practices and work experiences for the prevention and care of drug–addicts, either perpetrators or victims of the violence, by designing and testing educational materials to be used by those social workers who deal with these problems, in order to strengthen the individuals and the communities and, therefore, to prevent violence towards drug–addicted women.
Rationale behind the Project
The rationale behind DAPHNE project is to identify the deep reasons of the uneasiness and exclusion of women with addiction–related and abuse–related problems.
Addiction behaviours and situations of abuse have a complex connection. This connection is not easily observed for three main reasons:
1. cultural problems and prejudice: the abuse is not perceived as such by women themselves and by social and health workers;
2. the difficulties of women and workers when speaking of such private issues and experiences;
3. the lack of properly trained workers vis–à–vis the complexity of this situation of uneasiness.
Several studies suggest that there is a close relation between drug addiction and violence committed on drug users, as well as by drug users.
The lifestyle of drug users can lead to violence resulting from activities like drug procuring and selling, quarrels for the sharing of drugs with the partner and/or clients, or trading one's own body in exchange for drugs.
Homeless women are often subject to sexual violence committed by their street partners under the effects of alcohol or other drugs taken before the assault.
Sex workers under the effects of drugs were more likely to report physical and/or sexual attacks from their clients than those who did not take drugs.
The project meets the priority IV of DAPHNE II PROGRAMME by contributing to better explore, document and understand the relations between violence and drug use within the family and among people living and/or working in the streets.
Thus, it was useful to develop and to test measures on how to prevent violent behaviours within the family and in the streets, and to make involved communities safer.
Specific objectives of the Project
In order to address the problem described above the project contributed:
1. to provide an evaluation of the situation and studies in the field in order to better understand the relations between sexual violence and substance abuse; to organize an annotated bibliography to be made available on the website;
2. to identify and to share good practices and different work experiences in the involved countries and to promote a multidisciplinary cooperation in the field; to promote remarks about the strategies of permanent training of social and health workers through interdisciplinary cooperation;
3. to design and to test educational packages trying to raise the awareness of more people and of "at risk" groups in order to prevent violence among drug users;
4. to train social and health workers in order to effectively recognize and cope with cases of sexual abuse among their clients - drug users;
5. to investigate the relations between drug use and sexual abuse in order to promote services with better resources and abilities to identify the problems and the behaviours at risk;
6. to promote policies of social safety focused on guaranteeing the fundamental rights of people and, in particular, of European women.
Expected results of the Project
Results of the project:
1. Available data, studies, surveys were collected and interviews to 150 drug–addicted women and 40 scientists, social workers, specialists in psycho–social traumas, law enforcement officers were carried on in Italy, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Malta to evaluate the connections between drug use and violence.
2. Thanks to questionnaires sent to 60 professional institutions in partner countries, a review was prepared about their practices, experiences and suggestions in the coordination and cooperation between addiction, aid and protection against sexual violence.
3. A web community for the exchange of information, good practices and materials was created.
4. An awareness campaign was carried out among drug users in the town of Naples and partners towns, and an educational package of tools for the prevention of sexual abuse among risk groups was promoted.
5. Counselling meetings were held and leaflets and other information material was distributed to about 300 women with drug problems, living without shelter (homeless) or in prison, in community or in disadvantaged families.
6. Seven seminars were carried out aiming to train 40 social and health workers, teachers, law enforcement officers on how to recognize and prevent violence on drug–addicted women. Also a Peer Education Program was developed.
Innovative and unexpected results
Work groups in partner countries promoted a number of qualitative-quantitative activities which had not been provided by the programme:
1. Production of a video for a national and transnational information and awareness campaign about the problem of drug use and sexual abuse (DU&SA), focusing on wider population as well as risk groups; the video will be presented to the press during the final conference and will have a great media impact at European level.
2. Setting up of a Permanent Transnational and Multidisciplinary team for the integrated training of social/health workers; this proposal was made during the training meetings and was implemented by all the teams in partner countries in order to give continuity, also through the website, to the training processes started.
3. Free Counselling Service for women with drug use and sexual abuse (DU&SA) problems, with a special phone number at "Il Pioppo" Association. The promotion of this service was carried out also through the leaflet used during the awareness campaign.
4. Free Counselling Service for women prisoners in Campania with drug use and sexual abuse (DU&SA) problems, started by the prison department of "Il Pioppo" Association.
Specific and indirect beneficiaries
The main beneficiaries of the project are:
1. vulnerable women who live in socially deprived environments or in unhealthy situations (disadvantaged families, homeless, community, prison, street workers) who are at serious risk of further social exclusion;
2. staff of social and health services working with the target population of women at risk of being physically and/or sexually violated and/or abused. The training course which was developed within the project implementation contributed to improve their professional knowledge and skills to effectively recognize and cope with cases of sexual abuse among their clients.
Finally, the indirect beneficiaries of the project implementation are:
1. other groups of women potentially at risk of drug use–related violence;
2. social workers operating in the area of drug addiction and social alienation. The project improved their knowledge, skills and ability to recognize and deal with cases of physical and sexual violence and/or abuse.