It is not easy being a drug additct but gets even more difficult if you happen to be a woman.
Gender-Based Violence while common in Tanzania and other parts of East Africa, seem to get even worse when targeted Against Women Who indulge in narcotics.
Stigmatization and gender-based violence against women who use drugs is a major global issue.
These women face multiple layers of discrimination, including gender-based stigma, drug-use stigma, and societal exclusion.
This situation exposes them to various risks, including lack of access to healthcare services, physical and sexual abuse, and a heightened risk of contracting HIV.
The World Health Organization reports that approximately one in three women worldwide has experienced gender-based violence.
Stigma steaming from narcotics
However, women using narcotics face an even greater risk due to the stigma associated with drug use.
A report by Human Rights Watch highlighted that these women experience stigmatization and gender-based violence, which hinders them from accessing essential healthcare and social services.
At the international level, women who use drugs face various challenges, including Gender discrimination and attacks.
Women who use drugs are often perceived as ‘misfit’ members of society, leading to discrimination in accessing healthcare and fundamental rights (WHO, 2021).
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC, 2020) reports that 90 percent of women struggling with drug addiction have experienced some form of sexual violence.
A Human Rights Watch Report (2013) reveals that women who use drugs are frequently subjected to physical and sexual abuse by security officers, particularly in countries with stringent drug policies.
Social exclusion and segregation
In Africa, drug use is on the rise, and women who use drugs face numerous challenges, especially social exclusion in many African countries, drug use is viewed as a moral issue, leading to severe stigma from families and communities (UNODC, 2022).
Sexual violence in drug-use environments Research by the East African Community Health Report (EAC Health Report, 2019) indicates that many women who use drugs are coerced into sex to obtain drugs or money.
Barriers to healthcare access, Due to stigmatization, these women struggle to access healthcare services, particularly reproductive health services and addiction treatment (UNAIDS, 2021).
According to a study by the Tanzania Network for People Who Use Drugs (TANPUD, 2021), 80 percent of women who use drugs face gender-based violence compared to those who do not.
The report reveals 65 percent of these women have reported discrimination from healthcare providers when seeking treatment, while more than 50 percent experience social stigma, forcing them into difficult economic and social conditions.
Human Rights Watch also found that many women addicted to drugs in Tanzania face harassment from law enforcement officers, including the police aa well as healthcare providers.
That apparently also increases their risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
What they did in March 2025
Women who are involved in drug use and those undergoing methadone treatment from various regions in Tanzania convened to discuss this issue in Dar es Salaam on March 11, 2025.
The meeting took place at the Tanzania Network for People Who Use Drugs (TANPUD) premises in Kigamboni District.
Delegates revealed that they experience significant stigmatization from social welfare officers working in the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) clinics and societal rejection, often due to discriminatory language that dehumanizes them.
They claimed that even when they experience health issues and seek medical attention, they are often met with humiliating and discouraging responses that lead to mental distress and worsen mental health conditions.
Continuing to explain these challenges, they stated that even when seeking guidance on safe family planning methods, they receive discouraging responses, including being told they would give birth to a disabled child and being ridiculed with remarks such as:
“Don’t you ever feel ashamed as a lady getting involved in drugs?
Additionally, those who have recovered from drug addiction continue to face discrimination in the workplace, including isolation, salary deductions, and being required by their organizations to give 10 percent of the allowances they receive when attending harm reduction training.
“I was working when my boss demanded sexual favors from me, but I refused because I had a boyfriend in the same office. When my boss realized I had rejected him, he fired my boyfriend and told him that if he wanted to keep his job, he had to leave me,” said Naomi from Kibaha.
“I was bitten on my finger until it was severed by my boyfriend’s friend. I was resting on the veranda outside when my boyfriend invited me to eat chips, but I refused because I wasn’t feeling well. He left, and his friend remained. Suddenly, he started tearing my clothes, attempting to rape me.”
She continued, “I screamed, and people gathered, including my boyfriend. When I told him what had happened, he confronted his friend, and they fought. I intervened to help, and that’s when he bit off my finger,” said Zuwena from Arusha.
The pain and suffering
“I was constantly pilloried by my housemate who uttered words that degraded my dignity. One day, I overheard her speaking on the phone, saying, ‘You can never understand them, just like this junkie we live with here. I don’t even want to see it or let it talk to my children.’
That deeply hurt me,” said Asmah from Dodoma.
The purpose of the meeting, they stated, was to collectively discuss ways to eliminate the barriers they face by seeking economic empowerment projects to help them meet their needs and strategizing on how to help other women stop using drugs.
Women who use drugs face various consequences, likely Physical and mental health risks, they are at a high risk of contracting diseases such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, and tuberculosis, as well as mental health issues such as depression and anxiety (UNAIDS, 2021).
Social exclusion Stigmatization causes these women to be rejected by their families and communities, often exacerbating their drug use (EAC Health Report, 2019).
Physical and sexual violence Studies indicate that women who use drugs frequently experience sexual violence from service providers, partners, or even law enforcement officers (HRW, 2013).
And they miss out from economic opportunities due to stigma; these women usually struggle to find jobs and often resort to survival sex work (UNODC, 2022).
TANPUD’s Executive Director, Juma Kwame, stated that drug users are capable of working, and society should include them in various opportunities to help them transition away from drug use.
He said that HIV infection rates among women who use drugs are high, along with other diseases such as hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis. He urged them to establish leadership structures that can voice their challenges to ensure swift solutions.
“As an organization, we will strive to secure funding to bring together social welfare officers who assist in MAT clinics and educate them on how to provide care for drug users without discouraging them from seeking treatment,” said Kwame.