Resumen
Domestic violence shelter policies commonly exclude women if they use substances or arrive intoxicated. This can place them at further risk of violence. A harm reduction approach to policies, programs, and practices can mitigate the risk of harms associated with substance use and other risky behaviours. Some domestic violence shelters in Ontario, Ireland, and other places have begun to implement harm reduction strategies and consider this to be a viable approach. Our community-based research studies completed in collaboration with the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH), consisting of a survey of Ontario shelters, six Ontario shelter case studies involving interviews with 25 staff and 52 residents, and discussion groups at a conference we held for shelter staff, have also determined that implementing harm reduction approaches in domestic violence shelters can be a safe way to support women fleeing violence, who also use substances. In addition, we found that not all domestic violence shelters can implement harm reduction approaches in the same way. In partnership with OAITH, we co-constructed the Harm Reduction Framework and Continuum of Harm Reduction Practices. The continuum is a comprehensive, flexible tool that provides shelters with a means to assess their substance use and harm reduction practices, identify potential areas for change, and create and implement a harm reduction plan that will meet their unique geographical and population context. We present a sample of the continuum tool and discuss key elements of the tool development, including an overview of the contributing research, explanation of categories and levels, use of the tool, and other considerations.
Palabras Clave (separar con comas)
domestic violence shelters, harm reduction, substance use, intimate partner violence survivors