Violence against women who inject drugs

Women who inject drugs disproportionately report experiencing violence, yet they are overlooked in interventions and policy responses. The aim of this research was to quantify and contextualise experiences of violence among Australian women who inject drugs.

The results of this mixed-methods cohort study, which used data from SuperMIX and qualitative interviews, found that 82% had experienced at least one assault and 38% had experienced at least one sexual assault. One-in-five had had an assault-related hospital admission and one-in-four had an assault-related emergency department presentation. Follow-up surveys showed only one-third sought health care, with barriers to seeking health care including stigma, fear of child protection involvement and lack of trust in clinicians.

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