AAE members identified harm reduction services that are sensitive and responsive to the needs of women and other key populations who are left behind by traditional harm reduction services as a priority in the Region and as a core thematic area that AAE should work on in the 2022-2026 strategic period.
Harm reduction services, especially in central and southeast Europe and in the EECA countries are systematically underfunded and thus disrupted. Moreover, there is not an adequate legal context for those services, resulting in continued and regular harassment of frontline workers by the police and municipal authorities. In collaboration with other regional networks working on harm reduction, AAE will focus on supporting and providing capacity-strengthening activities to our member organisations, and identifying the gaps in harm reduction services for women, migrant communities, and the LGBTIQ+ community, specifically in the phenomenon of ChemSex.