The Stigma Trap: Mothers and Toxic Drugs

published on April 1, 2022 by Moira Wyton in The Tyee

Intimate partner violence and fear their children will be apprehended deter cisgender and transgender women, non-binary and Two-Spirit people from accessing harm-reduction services and increase their risk of dying from toxic drugs, a new study has found.

Interviews with 40 mothers and birthing parents who used women-only supervised consumption sites in Greater Vancouver found that stigma makes it difficult for them to feel safe accessing harm-reduction services.

This results in mothers and birthing parents using alone, not asking for support or not testing their drugs for fear of losing their children permanently, increasing their risk of toxic drug poisoning.

A reimagination of harm-reduction services and social services policies is needed to serve these parents and protect families, the researchers said…

View the full article