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drinkanddrugsnews
| April 2013
Conference report |
Women’s support
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
C
ardiff City Stadium hosted Kaleidoscope’s informative and
inspirational March conference,
Women affected by drug and alcohol
issues
. More than 200 delegates attended and the packed itinerary
included persuasive speakers from the police, social research,
healthcare, and a range of charities supporting transformation and
empowerment for women.
Kaleidoscope’s co-founder Mary Blakebrough opened with an account of the
charity’s 45-year journey, giving the metaphor of a kaleidoscope as a rallying call;
the delegates’ diverse roles and perspectives being like multicoloured glass
fragments in the patterns of a kaleidoscope. It was a strikingly gentle symbol given
the challenging themes under discussion, but nevertheless powerfully
demonstrated in the mutual goodwill and collaborative enthusiasm that was
tangible across the (all female) speakers and (mostly female) delegates.
Interconnected themes concerning drug and alcohol issues and how these relate
specifically to women emerged throughout the day, together with the often
overlooked impacts on children, families and wider society. Amanda Davies, CEO of
the Seren Group, predicted that increasing economic pressures and welfare reforms
would mean a rise in behaviours such as gambling, doorstep lending and cannabis
farming, and thereafter to more evictions and homelessness. Domestic pressures
often drove women further into destructive behaviours, reinforcing their
disempowerment, and compounding the problems for their dependents.
‘One in ten children in Britain have at least one parent with a significant drink
or drugs problem,’ said Pam Webb, head of Zurich Community Trust. Moreover,
‘children who have a parent with an alcohol or drugs problem are eight times more
likely to end up with a similar problem themselves’. Webb gave encouraging
reports from the trust, which focused on helping to create a positive future for
children by breaking the cycle of parental substance misuse and providing a safer
environment for children to flourish.
Jenny Earle represented the Prison Reform Trust, whose values included reserving
prison for serious offences that could not be served in the community. She claimed
that, ‘of the 11,000 women in England and Wales who are imprisoned every year, 81
per cent have committed non-violent offences.’ Links were made between crime and
drug-related issues, with the claim that ‘over half of women in prison report having
used heroin, cocaine or crack in the four weeks prior to entry.’ The Prison Reform Trust
advocated treating prisoners and their families with ‘humanity and respect,’ and Earle
described women in prison as the ‘neglected minority,’ with 31 per cent of all self-
harm incidents in prison relating to women, even though women made up only 5 per
cent of the whole prison population. Women prisoners tended to receive far fewer
visitors in comparison to men, were imprisoned further from home because of the lack
of appropriate facilities, and their children were far less likely to be cared for by the
other parent during their imprisonment.
Deputy police and crime commissioner Sophie Howe pointed out that women
affected by substance misuse were more vulnerable to crime, as well as being at
greater risk of domestic violence and unplanned pregnancies while under the
influence. She called for a more joined-up approach between the police and other
services and agencies. This need was underlined by Dr Gail Gilchrist, head of the
Centre for Applied Social Research at the University of Greenwich. Her work on
intimate partner violence (IPV, which included physical, sexual and psychological
harm, coercion and controlling behaviours) showed that risk factors extended to
education, finance, family history, and exposure to substance misuse in either
Kaleidoscope’s recent conference stimulated valuable debate on
how women affected by drug and alcohol issues could be better
supported in the community.
Sarah Orrell
reports
STRENGTH