Mo0PC06 02 Sekar Sari

Reaching women IDU in Jakarta Indonesia : 

Reaching women IDU in Jakarta Indonesia Sekar Wulan Sari Director of STIGMA Foundation Jakarta, Indonesia

Presentation Outline: 

Presentation Outline Background Questions Problems Improving services Summary

Background Jakarta: 

Background Jakarta STIGMA FOUNDATION, an HR NGO ~ number of IDUs 25,000 ~ HIV prevalence among IDUs 60% to 90% ~ Ratio of Male IDUs : Female IDUs = 10:1 Female IDUs hidden due to stigma, lack of access to health care

Questions about female IDUs: 

Questions about female IDUs Are harm reduction services reaching them? What works to increases services ? How quickly can services be improved?

Why women IDUs: 

Why women IDUs Tend to be forgotten (hidden population) Mother to child transmission Link to wider population through sex work Valuable human resources

Are harm reduction services reaching female IDUs?: 

Are harm reduction services reaching female IDUs? In 3 years, STIGMA contacted 69 female (5%) and 1342 male Male IDUs have sexual partners: wife, girlfriend, friends who may inject drugs Most other NGOs in Jakarta contact 1 female IDU for every 10 male IDUs  HR services have not been optimal in reaching female IDUs

Problems : 

Problems Social stigma and pressures  tend to be mobile and isolated Discrimination from the family  cut-off from families, girls are less valued in the family than boys Sexual harassment and violence – trauma (fear and shame) Strong codependency

Problems : 

Problems Active evening to midnight early morning Protection (by boyfriend, husband, pimp) Higher SES – more difficult to contact Health care services (detox, rehab, medical care, etc) are not sensitive to women’s needs

How to increase services for women IDUs?: 

How to increase services for women IDUs? Involving them  Use women current / former users to outreach Critical education among women IDUs Support group – example: STIGMA FEMALE IEC material addressing female IDUs needs Make treatment and rehab women friendly Create women’s space in health care centre Vocational training Focus advocacy

Slide10: 

STIGMA’S DOCUMENTATION

How quickly can services be improved?: 

How quickly can services be improved? Involving female IDU Critical education Scale up HR services with higher coverage of female IDU Commitment and effective advocacy Allocation of funds for drug treatment centre. Sensitize health workers with gender perspective Services can be improved quickly if:

Summary Women IDUs : 

Summary Women IDUs Coverage is too low Most public services don’t consider them as a special group They have special needs Need special approach to their problems Should have high priority in every harm reduction program Should have a different data collect

Next plans : 

Next plans Needs assessment workshop Conduct studies for policy and program development Developing Empowerments Activities More proactive advocacy

Slide14: 

ICAAP for scholarship Indonesian Women IDU Mr. Irwanto, Kate Dolan & Alex Wodak My colleagues and friends STIGMA FOUNDATION IHPCP/AusAID IHRD - OSI