“Aspects and correlations of use and gender abuse: Lived Experiences and perceptions of substance-addicted women under treatment”
Female substance abuse and gender-based violence are two complex global social problems that run through societies, raising concerns both about the position of women in socio-political-economic and cultural development, as well as their mental and physical health. The coexistence of gender-based violence in the stories of addicted women and the emergence of gender-based research in recent years, make it imperative for social scientists to study in depth the issues of gender inequality, sexism and the normalization of violence experienced by women with substance abuse experiences, as they are vulnerable to social exclusion, stigma and oppression. The main purpose of this research will be to investigate and highlight the gender related phenomenon of abuse/violence, in relation to addiction due to the use of psychoactive substances in Greece. The ultimate goal of the research is to provide the necessary connections to the ways in which women’s experiences of domestic/gender-based violence, personal identities and actions/actions in relation to gender and power relations have influenced the path to substance abuse and their day life quality in terms of drug using. In this dissertation, qualitative research will be carried out using the methodological tools of in-depth interview and archival research in forty women who are in detoxification treatment programs. The results of the research we hope to be an interpretive tool, which will highlight the “voices” and needs of women with experiences of gender-based violence and use, providing new ways of prevention, planning and implementation of treatment programs. Finally, we are optimistic about strengthening the theoretical foundations and practices, both in the education and in the workplaces of social workers, in order to help remove gender inequalities and oppressive social structures, such as sexism, which traumatizes women internally and physically in and out of use, while developing actions of empowerment and emancipation from all forms of discrimination and marginalization.
Keywords: gender-based/domestic violence, substance abuse, use of psychotropic substances, women.
Asimopoulos Charisios (Supervisor), Professor, Department of Social Work, University of West Attica
Poulopoulos Charalampos, Professor, Department of Social Work, Democritus University of Thrace
Sofia Dedotsi, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, University of West Attica
