Moral Economies of Care and Women Who Use Drugs in Ukraine

Abstract

This article analyzes interviews with women who use drugs in Ukraine to understand the care conundrum they face as members of a stigmatized group. In the interviews, the women sought to position themselves as deserving and needing care as members of a vulnerable category—sometimes as women who use drugs or people living with HIV, but also as mothers—yet also themselves capable of providing care for others. We examine how women who use drugs in Ukraine navigate a moral economy of care involving judgments about deservedness and social worth, the obligatory nature of care, and expectations for reciprocity. For programs for women who use drugs to be successful, they must acknowledge and engage with the moral economies of care in which these women operate. We offer recommendations for how health and social service providers can better meet the unique needs of women who use drugs.

Her village: experiences of drug-involved women in a female-only aftercare program in the Philippines

“…The results echo previous studies highlighting the difficulties women face due to the stigma as a drug user and a woman and / or mother (Lee and Boeri, 2017) and because of incarceration (Owczarzak et al , 2023). This may be a reason why there were no significant improvements in health, peer and livelihood recovery capital dimensions.…”

The impact of family systems and social networks on substance use initiation and recovery among women with substance use disorders.

“…SUD treatment professionals, criminal justice professionals, and women themselves all explained how addiction was regularly normalized in home and social environments across the life course, with childhood exposure to substance use being IMPACT OF FAMILY SYSTEMS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS a prominent factor motivating later use. All participant groups also remarked how romantic partners could both motivate use and hinder recovery by encouraging couse, inflicting physical and mental abuse, and limiting feelings of self-worth and self-efficacy, consistent with earlier findings on the influence of intimate partners on substance use trajectories (Gilbert et al, 2001;Owczarzak et al, 2023;Radcliffe et al, 2021;Simmons & Singer, 2006).…”

Drug Use Stigma and Reprisal: Barriers to Prison Needle Exchange in Canada

“…In our study, women more frequently discussed shame related to drug use, suggesting that they felt more impacted by it. Gibson and Hutton (2021) likewise found women experience heightened levels of stigma when accessing needle and syringe programs as well as other health care services in the community, while the women participants in Owczarzak et al’s (2023) research viewed themselves as undeserving of care and encountered mistreatment by healthcare providers due to their drug use and HIV status.…”