Addressing the specific needs of women who inject drugs. Practical guide for service providers on gender-responsive HIV services

Practical Guide offers suggestions for mainstreaming gender into existing services for people who inject drugs. At the same time, it acknowledges that, in some settings, women require services provided separately from or in addition to services targeting men. The main purposes of this Practical Guide are to:

• Assist harm reduction service providers to expand access to women who inject drugs through appropriate gender-sensitive and gender-specific services.
• Motivate and support harm reduction service providers to address gender issues within existing services and/or to develop gender-specific services.
• Provide advice on setting targets for scale-up to improve access to comprehensive HIV and care services, and thereby expand coverage among women who inject drugs.

This Practical Guide is intended for existing harm reduction and HIV-related service providers, managers, health-care workers and outreach workers, as well as those planning to work directly with women who inject drugs.