Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 3 October 2024

Committee on Drugs Use

A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed)

9:30 am

Ms Paula Kearney:

Yes, exactly. When it is a woman who uses drugs, that fear intensifies tenfold. With a peer-led piece, women start to feel comfortable and able to share. It is also important that we start to work on building women's skills within that. In BRIO, as I was saying, we do the personal development piece first and then we work with the women to train them to deliver programmes such as reduce the use, recover me and the DAVINA programme. These are all women who have had that experience. When women come in, they get the feeling that these are people who understand where they are coming from and will listen to them. There is a feeling of genuine empathy, where they feel comfortable to talk. We need to give these women skills. There is no point in just taking women's stories and expecting them to constantly regurgitate their life story.

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