This week, the Council of Europe's drug policy experts The Pompidou Group highlight the importance of “mainstreaming” gender perspective to drug policy.
Assessing negative consequences that especially women and girls face – including unequal access to health care and social services, as well as disproportionate criminal sanctions against women, among other issues – some 100 legal experts, policymakers, and drug policy specialists are meeting for a first-ever Pompidou Group conference in Mexico, which joined the Group last year.
Co-organized by the Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Pompidou Group, the conference takes stock of Pompidou Group sponsored research on gender perspectives in drug policy.
The 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session recognized the importance of "mainstreaming" gender in drug-related policies and programmes.