The need for gender mainstreaming in drug policy has become an imperative rather than a consensus at the international level. Designing, implementing and evaluating policies with a gender perspective, with a special emphasis on women’s empowerment, represents a significant step towards reducing gender gaps and inequalities. The traditional approach to drug policy, essentially focused on responding to the various drug-related situations of men, highlights the need to also address the problems faced by women. the drug-related problems faced by women, both as users and as defendants of drug-related offences.
The document presents a synthesis of currently available information on the main gaps and inequalities faced by women in relation to drugs, with a particular focus on the current situation in the countries that make up the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). The report also provides an updated synthesis of the international legal framework that regulates this area, as a reference in the process of designing public policies on drugs that are capable of effectively addressing these problems.