The Centre for Justice Innovation has published an important new research report, “To be listened to… And actually heard” – Women’s perspectives on effective substance use treatment and support. This research, funded by the JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls, explores what a better system of substance use treatment would look like from the perspective of women in treatment.
For some women, substance use can cause significant harm for themselves and for those around them. Women’s problems with substance use have well-established links to gendered experiences of trauma, abuse and exploitation, and they deserve to receive the kind of support that is appropriate for them. Our previous research identified that many of the mainstream, mixed-gender treatment services we looked at were not working well for women. Women who seek support for substance use deserve to receive the kind of support that is appropriate to them and able to respond to their needs and experiences effectively.
To explore these issues, they worked with The Nelson Trust, a provider of gender-specific support, to speak to women accessing treatment. The women who participated identified six key characteristics of effective treatment:
- Effective treatment is holistic. It considers and responds to all of a woman’s needs and strengths, including issues like domestic abuse, mental health, offending and children’s social care involvement.
- Effective treatment is compassionate and respectful. It respects women’s dignity and agency, and responds to their individual needs and experiences with understanding rather than judgement.
- Effective treatment is person-led and non-coercive. It enables women to determine what treatment and recovery looks like for themselves and to work towards it in their own time, without threat of further scrutiny or punitive measures.
- Effective treatment addresses the root causes of substance use problems. It supports women to work through drivers of their substance use, heal from past traumas and have their wider needs met.
- Effective treatment is trauma-responsive. It embeds understanding of trauma and shame throughout, following principles of safety, collaboration and transparency. It does not label women or discharge them when they go quiet.
- Effective treatment builds strength and resilience. It promotes women’s agency through interventions aimed at promoting self-worth, confidence and acceptance, providing them with new skills and ways of coping.
For the women that participated in the study, effective treatment meant a way of working that could address the causes and drivers of their substance use problems, help them manage their use long-term and support their wider needs. This can best be achieved through a joined-up system, where support is understood through the lens of gender- and trauma-responsiveness, starting with women and their needs, and building services and systems of care around them. Whole systems approaches – where all services with a role in supporting women work in partnership and are integrated into a cohesive system of care – represent our best tool for delivering this kind of care.
Read the research report and its recommendations in full at: https://justiceinnovation.org/publications/be-listened-and-actually-heard-womens-perspectives-effective-substance-use-treatment