Cause for Alarm
One in four women in Central European and Central Asian prisons locked up for drug offences – according to a new study published by Harm Reduction International (HRI)
At the 55th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs we met Damon Barrett, HRI’s Deputy Executive Director, who speaks about the results of the study in our new movie:
Vulnerable groups of society are always hit harder by the war on drugs – what is more, sometimes it seems all these prohibitionist drug policies are designed and intended to discipline and control people with no money, no power and no dignity. “Women are disproportionately facing prison for non-violent drug offences, often as a result of poverty and social marginalisation,” says Eka Iakobishvili, Human Rights Analyst at Harm Reduction International, the author of a report published in March this year. She and her colleagues made the first assessment on the impacts of restrictive drug policies on women. After collecting data from fifty-one European and Central Asian countries they concluded that one in four women in prison are incarcerated for non-violent drug offences!
Posted by Peter Sarosi
