Metzineres. Environments of Shelter for Womxn who Use Drugs Surviving Violences is the first integrated harm reduction program from Catalonia exclusively for women. With holistic and individualized scopes tailored to the particularities of anybody, it offers direct and immediate access to flexible proposals in accordance with women´s expectations, disquietudes, curiosities, interests and needs. Throughout an innovatively daring grassroots intervention model, unfolded in Environments of Shelter, sustained by community-based strategies anchored in human rights and gender mainstreaming, that prove reliable, pragmatic, cost-effective, where every woman is a protagonist.
Metzineres is displayed by Environments of Shelter where they may take part and wander in virtue of their demands of wellbeing, circumstances, ambivalences, mutable degrees of involvement and entrust for accompaniment. It is about mitigating possibilities of failure as to avoid revictimization or secondary traumatisation.
Environment for healing, training and recovery
The Meanwhile is open to all WUDSV, with a refreshing agenda of training, occupational, cultural and leisure activities. Easing basic needs, giving social health careness and deploying a wide range of choices for self-healing, bonding, wisdom sharing, self-defence, solidarity and mutual support, whilst seeking to enhance technical proficiency and advocacy.
Environment for productivity
The Plucky fosters professional worth, entrepreneurship and job opportunities satisfying to WUDSV that challenge hampering labour markets, stimulates employability with regular steady incomes, and potentiates skills, boosts self-sufficiency, inspires personal growth.
Environment for housing
The Cover becomes secure housing that invites serenity, intimacy, rest and protection for WUDSV in situation of homelessness or that have run from home, laying at their will a whole range of therapeutic elements to propitiate stability.
Last update: July 15 2020
Womxn (% from 277)
Cis Woman 243 87.7% Transexual woman 27 9.7% All 277
Old bands (% from 258)
From 20 to 29 years old 46 17.8% From 30 to 39 years old 84 32.6% From 40 to 49 years old 75 29.1% From 50 to 59 years old 42 16.3% 60 or older 10 3.9% Vulnerability / exclusion factors (% from 246)
Problems related to drug consume 141 57.3% Adult over 55 years old 29 11.8% Young 51 20.7% Migrated 99 40.2% Functional diversity 17 6.9% Racialized 48 19.5% LGTBIQ 49 19.9% Sexual worker 50 20.3% Sex for survival 81 32.9% Ranks of mental health 121 49.2% Homeless 173 70.3% Without cover 141 57.3% Imprisonment 79 32.1% Others 3 1.2% Where is accompaniment taken (% from 19415)
Street 508 2.6% XADUD 791 4.1% Outside activity 1593 8.2% Telephone 1410 7.3% 0.0% La VidAlegre 13696 70.5% Home address 42 0.2% 0.0% Social media 115 0.6% Other 1260 6.5% Foundations (% from 36583)
0.0% Food 15344 41.9% NSP 633 1.7% Shower 2270 6.2% Washing / drying machine 927 2.5% Clothing swap 1596 4.4% Sleep by day 2053 5.6% Thelephone/ Internet 3567 9.8% Transport 432 1.2% Condoms 326 0.9% Chat / Mutual suport 9199 25.1% Image 1969 5.4% Housing 537 1.5% Activities (% from 5280)
Workshop 1608 30.5% Outing 146 2.8% DIRD 300 5.7% XADUD 607 11.5% Assembly 562 10.6% Second hand market 150 2.8% Activism 517 9.8% Network articulation 291 5.5% Communitary activity 1027 19.5% Congress / Session 72 1.4% Educational intervention (% from 25960)
Counseling / Information 1735 6.7% Accompaniment 416 1.6% Followup 10499 40.4% Contact with family abd/or partner 395 1.5% Addressing violences 2117 8.2% "ConSumo Cuidado" 4328 16.7% Conflict resolution 505 1.9% Emotional support 5965 23.0% Approach to sexual work 794 3.1% Sanitary intervention (% from 14871)
Anamnesis 2351 15.8% Consultation 4410 29.7% Followup 6968 46.9% Cure 871 5.9% Accompaniment 81 0.5% Urgency 138 0.9% Domiciliary visit 16 0.1% Overdose 15 0.1% Unexpected effects of consumption 12 0.1% Social work (% from 1027)
Initial interview 148 228.9% Followup on site 145 14.1% Followup on telephone 89 8.7% Acompaniment 69 6.7% Follow-up of the case (articulation with other RSS feeds) 397 38.7% Domiciliary visit or other places of residence or stay 18 1.8% Derivation 35 3.4% Family contact 16 1.6% Procedures 99 9.6% Employability 11 1.1% Supervised consumption (% from 4019)
Alcohol 821 20.4% Other 18 0.4% Energetic drinks 37 0.9% Benzodiacepine 4 0.1% Cannabis 401 10.0% Cocaine 1443 35.9% Depo-progevere 5 0.1% Heroine 492 12.2% Depo-progevere NOT prescribed 14 0.3% Hormones 6 0.1% Methadone 152 3.8% Methanphetamines 87 2.2% Other opiate 3 0.1% Speed / Amphetamine 115 2.9% Speedball 151 3.8% Tobacco 13 0.3% Tropicamida 247 6.1% Ube 10 0.2% Substances and related problems (179 women consumers and 111 with problems)
Substance Current consumption Problems related Alcohol 79 30 Antipsychotics 11 2 Benzodiacepine 33 15 Cannabis 60 5 Cocaine snorted 40 9 Cocaine smoked 86 53 Cocaine injected 46 35 Heroine snorted 11 1 heroine smoked 35 12 heroine injected 60 41 Methadone 37 19 Methanphetamines 13 5 Speed / Amphetamine 25 5 Speedball 26 19 Tobacco 93 41 Tropicamida 2 2 During childhood (% from 46)
Physical aggressions 23 50.0% Sexual aggressions 16 34.8% Rape 8 17.4% Psychological aggressions 21 45.7% Lgtbi-phobia 13 28.3% Other 1 2.2% Family breakdown 26 56.5% Institutionalization 6 13.0% Criminalization 2 4.3% Sexual or sex-affective partner (% from 67)
Physical aggressions 59 88.1% Sexual aggressions 12 17.9% Rape 6 9.0% Psychological aggressions 58 86.6% Verbal 49 73.1% Environmental 35 52.2% Economic 22 32.8% Other 9 13.4% Family breakdown 1 1.5% Criminalization 1 1.5% Stigma / discrimination 2 3.0% Vulnerability confidentiality / intimacy 1 1.5% Mistreat 3 4.5% Other 1 1.5% Security deposit / fine unavailable 1 1.5% Eviction 1 1.5% Nearby environment (% from 39)
Physical aggressions 14 35.9% Sexual aggressions 9 23.1% Rape 6 15.4% Psychological aggressions 16 41.0% Verbal 15 38.5% Environmental 13 33.3% Economic 8 20.5% Lgtbi-phobia 12 30.8% Unknown (% from 28)
Physical aggressions 14 50.0% Sexual aggressions 6 21.4% Rape 9 32.1% Psychological aggressions 6 21.4% Environmental 6 21.4% Economic 4 14.3% Lgtbi-phobia 10 35.7% Other 1 3.6% Physical 1 3.6% Sexual 2 7.1% Rape 1 3.6% Social care system (% from 32)
Ignoring the demands 8 25.0% Family intrusion 8 25.0% Stigma / discrimination 22 68.8% Vulnerability confidentiality / intimacy 13 40.6% Lgtbi-phobia 8 25.0% Not supporting idiomatic barriers 6 18.8% Other 2 6.2% Health care system (% from 33)
Ignoring the demands 8 24.2% Family intrusion 1 3.0% Stigma / discrimination 19 57.6% Vulnerability confidentiality / intimacy 11 33.3% Mistreat 2 6.1% Lgtbi-phobia 8 24.2% Not supporting idiomatic barriers 4 12.1% Other 4 12.1% Judicial system (% from 25)
Preventive prison 8.0% Security deposit / fine unavailable 28.0% Disproportionate condemnation 44.0% Multiple short jails 28.0% False conviction 12.0% Stigma / discrimination 36.0% Inadequate defense 28.0% Lgtbi-phobia 8.0% Other 12.0% Police system (% from 17)
Ignoring the demands 8 32.0% Physical 4 23.5% Sexual 2 11.8% Psychological 5 29.4% Harassment 6 35.3% Economic 1 5.9% Access to treatment as a form of coercion 2 11.8% Lgtbi-phobia 1 5.9% Eviction 3 17.6% Other 3 17.6% Penitentiary system (% from 18)
Isolation 8 44.4% 3 16.7% Scatter 2 11.1% Barriers to PMM access 2 11.1% Indigence in prison 5 27.8% Withdrawal of custody due to imprisonment 3 16.7% Denial of permits and penitentiary benefits 4 22.2% Threats and / or coercion by officials 6 33.3% Torture or vexing treatment 3 16.7% Rape 1 5.6% Other 3 16.7%
The transcendence of the almost 40 daily accompaniments undertaken by Metzineres, committing to heart warmth the wellbeing of more than 220 brave women, currently participating in the project, has shown along the two years of implementation, extraordinary results, exceeding our best expectations.
Despite the broad commitment of all of us in Metzineres, the countless alliances linked to the social and solidarity economy as well as the multiple visits from around the world to get to know our approach model, the lack of funding and infrastructure endanger put at risk our Shelter Environments.
For these reasons we call on institutions, philanthropic communities, entities, companies, movements and individuals with whom we share common ideals and objectives, to show their support and solidarity, willing to activate support within networks that may guarantee the sustainability of Metzineres.
Metzineres is a collective of 250 women and gender non comforming people in multiple situations of vulnerability, 90% of us are surviving multiple violences, half of us are homeless and 70% have problems related to drugs, legal and illegal.
Beyond the risks that we live in our day to day life and the harm reduction measures that we are already adopting (COVID19 HARM REACTION guide. In Metzis we don’t want Corona) we want to highlight the complexity of our reality so it can be contemplated in the social, health and economic measures applied to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We prioritize access to safe confinement, which respects our human rights, with a feminist approach, taking into account intersectionality and harm reduction. That would allow us to maintain our link with the environment, the companions and the social and health professionals we trust. Respectful of our habits and committed to our empowerment and well-being.
We want to be able to take care of ourselves, access our belongings and give continuity to our treatments, especially those of us living with mental health disorders. Those of us who are in active consumption want to reduce risks and not go through forced abstinence. Also, if we do sex work or sex for survival we want to be able to protect ourselves.
These days, measures have been deployed aimed at us that, although well-intentioned, they are not adapt to our circumstances, in some cases even retraumatizing us and violating our rights.
In order to alleviate and redirect those responses that are reproducing stigma and discrimination, we present the following recommendations:
Nothing About Us Without Us
Full text available here.
"Amb molts pocs diners salvem vides". Report in Vilaweb, reference media in Catalonia. [catalan]
"Metzineres: shelter and empowering women who use drugs, survivors of violence". Article in Innovative approaches in drug policies and Incarceration. [english]
