A majority of de-addiction centres do not have an environment conducive for the treatment of women.
Few women drug users step out of the shadows. Because of societal expectation of women as wives, mothers and daughters, the barriers of stigma and discrimination are greater than those faced by men. They also face a greater vulnerability to disease and violence.
Yet, only few women drug users receive treatment for addictions. Both government and private de-addiction centres fail to reach out to women since they do not segregate the sexes. The result is that women do not access them.
48-year-old Molly Joseph, a former nurse, has been smoking heroin for nearly seven years. She has failed to get treatment for her addiction. Molly said, "I could not get a proper place where I could give up. When you are giving up this thing you require some peaceful place and people who can accommodate you, give you company, talk to you to divert your mind. My family is not with me. I am totally alone."
Molly, who is a resident of Delhi, says the city has only one privately-owned de-addiction centre for women. The cost of treatment at the private centre is nearly Rs 30,000 rupees a month, which is unaffordable for drug users like her who typically have no family support and job. There are only a handful of exclusive, women-friendly centres across the country.
Women are impacted by addiction differently than men. The psychological and physiological effects of drugs and alcohol are often more severe for women. One survey found the prevalence of physical and sexual abuse is 85 percent among all women drug users. Abuse leads to post-traumatic stress disorder.
Shantanu Chowdhary, national co-ordinator for the Indian Drug Users Forum, said, "There is a lot of difference between the treatment protocol for a man and a woman. A woman might have a small child also. So for that, you need to have a creche. When we go to the field, when we go to the slums, the hotspots where all congregate and do drugs, there are thousands of women in Delhi who are into drug use."
The Indian Drug Users Forum says women drug users need alternate strategies and treatment centres must be tailor-made for their needs.
The forum is petitioning the Prime Minister's Office, seeking more treatment centres for women.