Recent studies show that women are susceptible to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases in multiple ways. They are more likely to have been coerced into early sexual activity, face more sexual violence and are likely to have a greater number of sexual partners, cautions Pratima Murthy, Professor of Psychiatry and Chief of De-addiction Centre at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore.

Women have a greater likelihood of selling sex for money or drugs and report significant reproductive health problems, says Murthy, who will present a paper on ‘Women and Substance Abuse’ at an International Conference on Opportunistic Pathogens in AIDS (ICOPA), to be held from January 27 to 29 at Delhi.

Women using drugs often have partners who use drugs and their risky behaviour affects the women, Murthy adds. Similarly, non substance using women who have substance using partners are also vulnerable and form a bridge population for the spread of HIV/AIDS. Awareness on HIV risk is inadequate, accessibility to services is limited and this population is greatly undeserved.

While traditional use of drug continues, use of synthetic and semi-synthetic drugs has overtaken them. According to the national household survey, which evaluated 40,697 men between 12 and 60 years of age, prevalence of current substance use was as follows: tobacco 55.8 per cent, alcohol 21.4 per cent, opiates 0.7 per cent, sedative/hypnotics 0.1 per cent.

A recent Rapid Assessment Survey of Drug Abuse evaluated 4,648 drug users across 14 cities in India. Women drug users in this study, numbering 371, constituted 8 per cent of the drug users studied. Average age of respondents was between 26 and 31 years. Age of initiation of substance use was between 16 and 22 years. A majority of the women interviewed (60-75 per cent) were single and had drug using friends. Alcohol was the commonest drug of initiation, in 60 to 90 per cent of respondents, followed by cannabis, in more than half. In Mumbai, nearly half the users had initiated drug use with heroin. In Hyderabad, more than one-third of respondents reported injecting drug use (IDU). Age at first sexual experience was between 18 and 20 years of age.