Metzineres. Environments of Shelter for Womxn who use drugs surviving violence

Women and non-binary gender people who use drugs and survive multiple situations of violence and vulnerability (From here onwards 'womxn') find it difficult to enter or adhere to social healthcare networks. They are often excluded from specialized services, including the ones focused either on drugs or in gender-based violence. The lack of optimal alternatives, barriers to access, and institutional gaps exacerbate mechanisms of control, inequality, social injustice, and exclusion. Prejudice, stigma, and discrimination result in a systematic violation of their rights.

Metzineres aimed at deploying Environments of Shelter that are exclusive to womxn and which cover the full spectrum of harm reduction. With a holistic and individualized approach connected to the particularities of each womxn, they offer flexible proposals, with direct and immediate entry. A model of intervention based on human rights and gender mainstreaming, supported by community and social and solidarity economy strategies that aim to be reliable, pragmatic, cost-effective, and where every womxn is the protagonist. The responsibility to generate genuine, accurate and up-to-date information drives the team at Metzineres to equip themselves with non-intrusive research tools. It’s the womxn who decide how and when they share their biographies. These data are standardized through our own database.

Among the almost 300 womxn who have already joined us, they experience drug-related problems (72%), homelessness (69%), migratory experiences (37%), LGTBIQ+ (20%), sex work (16%) and/or sex for survival (20%), imprisonment (29%), mental health disorders (46%), and functional diversity (6%). The importance of the almost 40 daily supports met by Metzineres has shown extraordinary results.

The method of monitoring and evaluation is applied as a routine process, allowing us to assess the availability, coverage, quality, and relevance of the interventions. The Metzineres model of approach has been recognized as a good practice at local, national, and international levels.