Topic 4 – 



DFA’s Action Plan - Addressing the Connection between Drug Use and Violence Against
Women





Current data: Globally, violence against women remains a significant issue, and drug use is a critical factor exacerbating this problem. According to ‘UN Women’, various studies have shown that women in relationships with men who exhibit controlling behaviors and gender-inequitable attitudes are more likely to experience intimate partner violence. These dynamics are often intertwined with substance abuse, which serves as both a risk factor and a consequence of such violence​ (eca.unwomen)​​ (who)​



The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that nearly 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence, often exacerbated by factors like alcohol and drug abuse. Harmful use of alcohol and drugs is linked to both the perpetration and experience of intimate partner violence. This connection underscores the need for comprehensive healthcare interventions that address substance abuse alongside violence prevention and response measures​ (who)​​ (who)​.



What can be done?



Short to Medium Term:  Introduce urgent government policies and strategies  that prioritise primary prevention and demand reduction of drug use by:

• Initiating strategies that seek current community comment - and thoroughly document and consider all responses

•  introducing protective factors via community health literacy programs and media campaigns

• Simultaneously finance age-appropriate school drug education from  early school years through to senior school levels. These can also address and combine strategies that reduce bullying and mental health issues

An example of such curriculum and resources are available at www.saveyourbrain.com.au.



RATIONALE: the cost of notprioritising prevention is increasingly high. According to the UNODC the cost $1 in prevention initiatives compares to a minimum cost of a $10 spend in treatment. This can escalate into $100’s of dollars once law enforcement, legal costs and extended care, together with recidivism costs for people seeking repeated rehabilitation opportunities. In Australia, the eye-watering costs for the following drug misuse could be greatly reduced, if demand reduction strategies were to be seriously implemented:

•  the social cost of alcohol use - estimated at more than $67 billion and

• opioid use (alone) cost more than $16 billion of tax payers money.





Topic 5 – 



DFA’S ACTION PLAN - Addressing the Connection between Drug Use and Violence Against Women





The Youth Prevention Influencers (YPI) program is a project of the Rotary Action Group for Addiction Prevention (https://www.rag-ap.org) that was developed in collaboration with:



• the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime UNODC https://www.unodc.org/unodc/prevention/)
• the World Federation Against Drugs (WFAD https://wfad.se)

Why?

This provides an alternative to the rapid obsolescence factor of current prevention programs, which not only become out of date quickly, but also lose their evidence-based status, in the longer term, due to lack of re-evaluation. The project also closely aligns with mental health issues, as prevention of addiction is part of the field of Mental Health.



How does the PYI’s program Work?

The Youth Prevention Influencers project invests in young people.

They are:

• selected by Rotary clubs in collaboration with professional prevention organizations.
• trained in the principles of addiction and prevention by trained professional prevention workers. The training for the professional prevention workers was developed by the Carlton Hall Consulting (http://carltonhallconsulting.com/corporate-about.html
• Following their training, the candidate Youth Prevention Influencers are supported by the rotary club which selected them to develop and implement their own actions in their own (youth) environment and in their own way.

The programme provides for scientific follow-up by Hogent's research centre Substance use and Psychosocial Risk Behaviours (SUPRB (https://www.hogent.be/onderzoekscentra/substance-use-and-psychosocial-risk-behaviours/) research centre, enabling young people to learn quickly and adjust their project, even in full action.

Every year, they are invited to attend the United Nations meeting of the Youth Prevention Influencers in Vienna, where the young people brainstorm among themselves, learn from each other, evaluate and adjust in order to continue working on new ideas.

For more go to: www.ragap.org