Impact of punitive drug policies on women and families

1. Gendering Justice
Promoting Drug Policies that
Support Women and Families

2. Drugs and Domination:
Addiction fuels Empires
Let’s begin by discussing the role of addiction in developing the
enterprise that came to be known as the British Empire and it’s most
successful spinoff, the United States.
The British Empire grew and expanded by the intentional exploitation
and commercialization of addiction – to sugar, tobacco and alcohol in
the form of whiskey and rum. These substances have become
embedded in our culture and continue to provide a handsome source
of profit. The slave trade was an essential component of this process
by expanding the scope of addictive behaviors beyond plants to
include human exploitation.

3. The Triangle Trade
Europeans created a racist ideology to justify the slave trade and
colonial conquest. Africans and indigenous peoples of the “New
World” were cast as sub-human, uncivilized, and inferior to
Europeans in every way. As they were ‘not one of us’, they could be
bought, sold and economically exploited. The development of
modern racism is inextricably linked to the slave trade and
colonialism.

4. This picture sums up the story of early U.S. capitalism.
The wealth of the nation was derived literally and
figuratively from exploiting the labor and resources of
African people.

5. Slavery Relied on Swift and
Harsh Punishment
Enslaved people were considered chattel and had no rights.
Prevailing law permitted owners to inflict harsh punishments for
any offense. An enslaved person would be punished for:
• Resisting slavery
• Not working hard enough
• Talking too much or using their native language
• Stealing from his owner
• Murdering a white man
• Trying to run away

6. African-Americans learned during almost 250 years of legal
enslavement to expect harsh punishment for even minor infractions.
After Reconstruction, the criminal justice system quickly geared up to
replace the former system of plantation justice. Throughout the
South, and increasingly in Northern and Midwestern cities, laws were
enacted to restrict African-American movement, economic activity
and social mobility. Violation of these laws and customs generated
swift and harsh punishment – in the 50 years after Reconstruction,
African-Americans comprised a disproportionate percentage of the
growing population of people involved with the criminal justice
system.

7. The Growing Consensus
More than 50 years ago, the Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs called addiction “a
serious evil for the individual” and a “danger to mankind.”
To combat addiction, narcotics would be banned — instituting “Drug Prohibition” — and use
of illegal substances by individuals would be punished to “protect the health and welfare of
mankind.”
Today, there is growing agreement that a change in course is necessary:
The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences
for individuals and societies around the world… fundamental
reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently
needed.
Statement of the Global Commission on Drug Policy

8. The Impact of Drug Policies on Women
Punitive drug policies have failed at enormous cost to women.
These costs include, but are not limited to:
• Tough on crime policies that
dramatically increased
women’s incarceration,
separating families
• Drug-related crime that fuels
violence against women
• Barriers to reproductive health
care and increased risk of HIV
and hepatitis C
• Misallocated resources
focused on punishment rather
than appropriate drug
treatment for women
• Gendered stigma: Women who
use drugs are “bad” and “unfit”
parents
• Supply-side interventions such
as crop eradication and aerial
spraying that destroy
livelihoods and uproot
communities – fueling poverty
and increasing women’s
vulnerabilities.

9. In the U.S. 1 million women are on probation or parole, Two-thirds of the
women who are incarcerated have at least one minor child and approximately
5% are pregnant at the time of their incarceration. Pregnant women who are
incarcerated typically have to give birth in chains and shackles. Those who
need prenatal care or want an abortion often face insurmountable barriers to
the care they need.

10. Ten Tools of the Drug War that
1. Reduced Incarceration
Women around the world are being
incarcerated for minor, nonviolent
drug-related crimes at an alarming
rate.
Incarceration should be used only
for persons who pose a serious
public safety threat and then only
for an amount of time sufficient to
eliminate the threat.
Incarceration of pregnant and
parenting women should be rare
and exceptional.

11. Ten Ways Drug Policy Reform
Supports Women
1. Reduced Incarceration
Latin America
From 2006-2011, the
women’s prison
population increased
from 40,000 to
74,000.
United States*
200,000 women
behind bars; 1
million women are
on probation or
parole
Europe and Central Asia
28% of all women
incarcerated in that region
are serving time for drug-
related offenses.
Thailand
50% of incarcerated
women are serving time
for trafficking or
possession of
methamphetamine

12. Ten Ways Drug Policy Reform
Supports Women
2. Reduce death and disease associated with illicit drugs
UNAIDS data: HIV prevalence among
women who inject drugs was 13%
compared to 9% among their
countrymen
Harm reduction methods: needle
exchange, distribution of naloxone (to
prevent overdoses) have positive
health impacts, but little investment in
many nations
Drug overdoses are driving up the
death rate of young white adults in the
United States
U.S.: Women’s drug-related deaths are
rising more than men’s
Policies that prioritize and fund punishment over health
care increase the likelihood of death and disease for
people who use drugs. Harm reduction approaches –
e.g. needle exchange and overdose prevention– have
positive health impacts and cost far less than punitive
policies
0
5000
10000
15000
2013 U.S. Drug-Related Deaths by
Gender
Male Female

13. Ten Ways Drug Policy Reform
Supports Women
3. Reduce family disruption
The majority of women
incarcerated in the US and
around the world for drug-
related offenses are mothers.
Incarceration undermines the
well-being of children separated
from their mothers. Many end up
in foster care and few can visit
their mothers who are
incarcerated in jails and prisons
far from home.
Punishment for drugs often
includes removal of children and
termination of parental rights.

14. Ten Ways Drug Policy Reform
Supports Women
In the United States evidence of drug use and even
drug treatment that includes substitution therapy is
used as a basis for civil child welfare actions that
remove children from mothers who love and care
for them. Policies that generate fear of losing
custody of one’s children, deter women who need
and want help from seeking it

15. Ten Ways Drug Policy Reform
Supports Women
4. Increase access to evidence-based and gender appropriate drug
treatment Funding used to punish women could instead
be used to increase access to treatment that is
designed to meet their needs by:
• Providing child care
• Focusing on support rather than guilt and
shame
• Addressing mental health and trauma issues
– In the U.S., 25–57% of women in drug
treatment programs experienced intimate
partner violence compared to 1.5–16% in the
general population
• Supporting methadone treatment and harm
reduction approaches

16. Ten Ways Drug Policy Reform
Supports Women
Women are more likely to be sexually assaulted, raped or
abused when they are under the influence of drugs but are
often afraid to report the assault for fear of arrest because of
drug use.
Drug prohibition artificially inflates the price of illegal
substances. Many poor women may become involved in the
sex industry to finance their drug addiction and often trade
their body for drugs.
5. Reduce sexual violence and sexual exploitation of women made
vulnerable by their proximity to the drug trade and/or their drug
use

17. Ten Ways Drug Policy Reform
Supports Women
Pregnancy can be a powerful motivator to seek
treatment.
But in places where drug use is criminalized,
pregnancy can be an impediment to seeking
care.
6. Reduce stigmatization and punishment of women who use drugs,
especially pregnant and parenting women.

18. Ten Ways Drug Policy Reform
Supports Women
Supply-side interventions: seek to stop drugs at their source – e.g. Plan
Colombia: U.S. funds (>$1.3B) to finance the Colombian military’s war
against drug cartels and political insurgents. Also used to finance coca
eradication programs utilizing aerial sprays which blanketed entire
communities in chemicals, causing cancer, respiratory and reproductive
health problems.
7. Remove sources of economic destabilization, violence and
exploitation of women
Crop eradication also:
> Eliminates livelihoods
> Fuels militarization
> Displaces people seeking
safety, exposes them to
violence
Coca eradication in Colombia

19. Ten Ways Drug Policy Reform
Supports Women
Women who use drugs may be in particular need of
reproductive health information and care.
8. Protect women’s reproductive health
Some drugs interfere with the
menstrual cycle; women at risk
of unplanned pregnancy or may
be unaware of being pregnant
Integrated reproductive and drug-
related services—or easy referral
between the two—are needed but are
often lacking.
Women may delay seeking prenatal
care
False information about
the relative risks of harm
from drug use by pregnant
women
Women drug users may be
pressured to end
pregnancies to avoid arrest
or detention.

20. Protect women’s reproductive health
In the United States drug war
propaganda is creating legal precedent
for arresting pregnant women,
overturning Roe v. Wade and establishing
separate rights for fertilized eggs,
embryos, and fetuses.
In just the past year, 12 states have
enacted laws banning abortions well
before fetal viability and/or criminalizing
pregnancy outcomes, including
miscarriages, stillbirths and illicit drug
use during pregnancy.
After being removed from his position as
Chief Judge of Alabama’s Supreme Court,
Roy Moore went on to run for U.S. Senate.
He was narrowly defeated by Doug Jones
despite being credibly accused of improper
conduct with several underage girls

22. The Unborn Ultimatum

23. Ten Ways Drug Policy Reform
Supports Women
Alleviate the social and economic conditions that contribute to
problematic drug involvement.
That means moving resources from punitive policies to
investing in better treatment, education and economic
opportunities for populations ensnared in the drug war.
It’s time for change. It’s time to THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY!
9. Improve opportunities for economic and social mobility

24. Owning What We Choose
The U.S. has chosen punishment over empowerment. No state provides sufficient
income assistance to support a family of four at the federal poverty level. Every
state in the U.S. will spend more to incarcerate one person for a year than it will to
sustain a family in poverty.
PUNISHMENT EMPOWERMEN
T

25. Ten Ways Drug Policy Reform Supports
Women
We need to measure the outcomes of drug policies according to their harms or benefits
for women and communities. For example, progress could be defined as reducing:
> the number of families subjected to unnecessary or punitive drug-related
interventions
> the ability of women to access methadone and other appropriate treatments
> the level of HIV and other infectious diseases among drug users.
10. Improved health and well-being of women who use drugs and their families
The expenditure of public resources should therefore be focused on activities that can be
shown to have a positive impact on these objectives. In most countries, this would mean:
Increased investment in
health and social
programs