Harm Reduction Journal volume 21 , Article number: Cite this article. Metrics details. This article is divided into three parts, each addressing a specific space: the space of institutional care, the intimate marital space, and the urban festive space.
We begin by describing gender inequalities within harm reduction and care structures, by demonstrating how single-sex spaces facilitate the care of women, and how care professionals can perpetuate unequal gender norms in their relationship with a woman in a situation of addiction expressing a desire for pregnancy.
Concerning the marital space, we highlight the reproduction of gender norms within socially included heterosexual couples who use drugs and are socially included, particularly concerning the choice of the intimate partner, the distribution of tasks linked to the purchase and sale of drugs, and parenthood.
Finally, concerning the festive space, the article highlights the differentiated strategies of men and women in urban festive places, and the maintenance of a gendered order of festive places and drug consumption. This leads us to discuss the current issues of stigmatization of women drug users, and the initiatives put in place in the French context to promote harm reduction for women who use drugs. A long-time invisible issue in France, an increasing number of studies are investigating the use of licit and illicit drugs by women; moreover, care services are beginning to take this specific context into account.
Over the last two decades, a new generation of researchers have made gender and drugs their chosen field of research [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ].
