Seen and Heard: Women and Mother’s Experiences of Navigating a Drug and Alcohol Recovery Community
Lydia Shrimpton, Hayley Alderson, Kim Hall, Monique Lhussier, Ruth McGovern, Zeibeda Sattar, William McGovern

TL;DR
This study explores how women who use drugs, especially mothers, experience stigma and find support in recovery communities.
Contribution
The paper provides new insights into gender-specific challenges and the role of peer support for women in drug recovery.
Findings
Gender-specific groups offer safety and empowerment for women who use drugs.
Stigma and surveillance significantly impact women's engagement with recovery services.
Peer support and sisterhood are crucial for women's recovery experiences.
Abstract
Women Who Use Drugs (WWUD) are amongst the most stigmatised groups in society and are subject to stigma as they engage with services and within their own recovery communities. WWUD who are also mothers have been found to experience increased stigma and disproportionate surveillance by professionals when accessing services, leading to a constant fear of child removal and apprehension to accessing, engaging and seeking support. In this study, we report findings from a community asset mapping project conducted with drug and alcohol recovery services in the North-East of England. The aim of this study is to examine the gender-specific and recovery-related experiences of WWUD when accessing services and women-only spaces. Semi-structured interviews (n = 13) and focus groups (n = 4) were carried out with professionals working in the recovery community and women in recovery from substance use.…
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Taxonomy
TopicsPrenatal Substance Exposure Effects · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
