2^nd International Harm Reduction Congress on Women and Drugs

Sunday March 3, 2002

Satellite Conference

Second INWD Congress on Women and Drugs

3 March 2002,

Cankarjev dom
Kulturni in kongresni center
Presernova 10, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija

The International Harm Reduction Network on Women and Drugs is pleased to announce its second international congress.

We hope that this 2002 congress organised for users and workers, policymakers, researcher, service providers and advocates in the field of harm reduction and gender issues will be a success. The programme committee is offering you a programme in which you, participant or presenter, will find enough time to listen, talk, share and network.

I am looking forward to seeing you and I am sure that it will be a great day. The conference will start at 9.30 in the morning and it will be finished around 17.00. Just before the opening session and welcome reception of the 13th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm.

The annual INWD women's network meeting will take place on Tuesday 5th march 2002, the room and time will be announced.

Anke Wevers

Chair International Harm Reduction Network on Women and Drugs

Congress organisation: INWD, Kaatsbaan 12 , 3082 DP, Rotterdam- the Netherlands, e-mail: inwd@planet.nl

&

International Harm

Reduction Conference Organisation,

Ljubljana - Slovenija

Main Sponsor:

Lindesmith /Drug Policy Foundation

Washington DC –New York

USA

Registration Fee: 100

The registration fee includes:

• entry to the congress

• morning and afternoon refreshments

• lunch

• congress documentation

Program committee:

R. Anderson, USA.,

Susan Boyd, USA

J. Byrne, Australia.,

N. Bath, Australia

A.Padayachee, South Africa.,

Sue Purchase, USA

A.Wevers, the Netherlands,

Irene Salema Singh

Programme 2^st International Harm Reduction Congress on Women and Drugs

Time table:

9.00 - 9.30 Registration

9.30 – 10.45 Opening Plenary

• Mayor of Ljubliana

• Mrs. Pirko Lathi, president elected World Federation on Mental Health

• Mrs. Deborah Small, policy director Lindersmith/Dpf

Chair: Anke Wevers

10.45- 11.15 Refreshments

11.15- 12.45 Second Plenary:

• Annie Madden, Australia

• Sheigla Murphy USA

• Dr. Chris Ford, UK (to be confirmed)

12.45- 14.00 Lunch (provided)

14.00 –15.30 Parallel sessions:

1. Women and Violence – Round Table “Time for Reflection and Action”: Chair – Anshu Padayachee

M. H. Cerkovnik, S. Prosen, Clinical Dept. for Mental Health, Centre for Treatment of Drug Addiction, Presentation of the In/Out-Patient Groups for Drug-Dependent Women in Detoxification Unit, Ljubljana

B. Rindels, W. R. Downs, University of Northern Iowa, An Educational Program on Partner Abuse for Substance Abuse Treatment Staff, USA

S. Mudaliar, A. Selvanayagam, M.S. Kumar, D. Daniels, SAHAI Trust, Partner Violence in Drug and Alcohol Dependents in Chennai, South India, India

2. Blood Borne Viruses - Chair: Jude Byrne

L. V. B. Junqueira, W. Bastos Jr., R. Oliveira, J. E. Amorim, Associacao Casa Viva, CEPAAD; Harm Reduction, Women and Feminine Condoms: A Brazilian Challenge, Brazil

M. S. Dolbik, Epidemiology and Higiene Centre, Extent to which Virus Hepatitis B and C Spread Among Drug-Users in Soligorsk, Republic of Belarus

G. Radulich, E. Vivas (El Retono Cevil Association), D. Rossi, M. Vila (INTERCAMBIOS Civil Association), L. Martinez Peralta, S. Sosa Estani, M. Weissenbacher (National AIDS Reference Centre – CNRS) J. Rey (Hemotherapy Centre, Hospital de Clinicas “Jose de San Martin”), Seroprevalence Study in Injection Drug Users from Buenos Aires, Argentina

S. Kynast, ASUD National, Sexual Harm Reduction Programs for Women: Recent Experiences in France, France

Women and Drugs – “ Cultural and International Perspectives” Chair: Irene Salema Singh

M. Croquette Krokar, Division of Substance Abuse, Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Parenthood/Addiction: The Experience of Geneva, Switzerland

S. O. Mokhnatchev, Research Institute on Addictions, Ministry of Health, Moscow, Special Features of Heroin Addiction in Women, Russian Federation

C. Day, K. Dolan, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW, Female Injecting Drug User in Sydney, Australia: Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, Australia

J. Schupp, Stichting MAINLINE, Self-respect as Stepping Stone: Foundation MAINLINE’s ‘Womem Project’, Netherland

M. Mkandawire, Youth Net and Counseling (YONECO), Reducing Drug Related Harm Amongst Street Youth and Commercial Sex Workers Case Study of Street Youth and Commercial Sex Workers in Malawi, Malawi

15.30-16.00 Refreshments

16.00-16.30 Plenary Debate –“ Gender Issues and Harm Reduction Who’s Responsible?”

Chairperson: Jude Byrne

Panel:

Deborah Small (confirmend)

Sue Purchase

Anke Wevers

Dr. Chris Ford (to be Confirmed)

16.45 Second Gender Award ceremony

17.00 Closing

The International Harm Reduction Network on Women and Drugs is happy to announce the Second International Harm Reduction Congress on Women and Drugs. The 13th International Harm Reduction Conference will host this event. This one-day conference will be held on Sunday March 3, 2002 from 9:00 to 5:00.

The need to give women a voice within the international dialogue about drugs is extremely important not only because historically the harm reduction movement is very male oriented, but also because traditional women’s rights organizations still exclude issues that address the needs of drug using women. In addition, the mental health field still has not adopted harm reduction principles to deal with female drug use.

The ability to control our own bodies, to get access to information and to have opportunities to raise our voices and be heard does not exist for most women involved in the field of drugs and alcohol. In many underprivileged areas of the world and even in so-called developed countries, all these essential conditions for organizing our own lives and future do not exist for many women, especially for female drug users.

The number of incarcerated women in the United States is approximately 10 times more than the number of women incarcerated in Western European counties even though Western Europe’s combined population is about the same size as that of the USA. (Amnesty International, Not Part of My Sentence: Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody, March 1999). The number of women with HIV/AIDS around the world is growing, not only because of drug use, but also because they are infected by sexual contact without the right or ability to protect themselves from infection. Violence against women, especially female drug users because of the risky situations in which they find themselves, continues to be accepted and is generally not discussed. Specific female survival strategies, with all their impact and consequences, should be discussed more often in the worldwide dialogue about drugs.

The International Harm Reduction Network on Women and Drugs is working to develop allies with organizations in the fields of mental health and women’s rights. This congress will be an opportunity to begin the process of building bridges with these constituencies to inform them about harm reduction and issues addressing the needs of drug using women. It will also address the need to raise a stronger voice for women within the harm reduction and drug policy movements. Therefore we would like to invite women and men to send in relevant abstracts to participate in the congress and the harm reduction conference. We are looking forward to having a productive dialogue to begin this process.

Price of the congress is 100 ECU, lunch in

Keynote speakers include Pirkko Lahti (invited), elected President of the World Federation of Mental Health and a representative of the women’s movement.