What impact has the war on drugs had on women - Essay Example

AR War On Drugs Effect on Women War on Drugs Effect on Women Drugs have been considered to be very lethal and addictive all over the world and as time has passed by more and more is become known about these drugs and their nature. It has been seen that as time passes by new legislations and orders have been passed by different governments to lower down the rate of drug usage in the current world. However if these legislations are evaluated it can be seen that they have had a profound effect on the women living in this world.

They have not only snatched their rights to bear a fetus while being addicted but have also resulted in their punishments which can be as severe as prosecutions. This essay would further analyze the impact of the war on drugs on women in this century (Solovitch 2006 & Bloom et al 2004). Figures taken from Women’s Prison Association showed an increase of 592 percent cases of women jailed for abusing drugs from the year 1977 to 2001 (Solovitch 2006). This shows a dramatic increase in the number of women jailed and the impact of the new legislative policies regarding drugs on the women.

It is noted that women are the ones who are suffering the most at the hands of the war on drugs. An example of pregnant women can be considered here as when legislations were introduced it was seen that women who were using drugs were snatched of their parenting rights and were not allowed to bear the child (Bloom et al 2004). The pregnant women are at times even referred to child welfare authorities and in some states it is noticed that these women are sentenced to death. Not only this, the whole system of rehabilitation has also largely been only made to suit the male population living in this world.

The women who are affected by drug abuse are not even given proper treatment when they are caught and yet again have to suffer because of the so called war on drugs (Solovitch 2006). In conclusion it can be said that although the number of men imprisoned for drug abuse are still higher than the women imprisoned for drug abused but even then the women are suffering the most from the new legislations. It is seen that many of the rights of these women are snatched without even being provided with their basic rights.

Rehabilitation centers are specially made in line with the requirements of men and not women and that is why the women are not fully able to cure themselves from this problem. But on the contrary it can also be said that because of this war many women tend to avoid getting into the drug business as they are afraid of being punished and this seems like an advantage of the war on drugs. However even then the legislative orders against women are stricter and they need to be altered in such a way that they consider the gender difference when being enacted (Bloom et al 2004).

BibliographyWomen are silent casualties of war on drugs. Sara Solovitch. Health-Med-Fit. 2006BLOOM, B., OWEN, B., & COVINGTON, S. (2004). Women Offenders and the Gendered Effects of Public Policy. Review of Policy Research. 21, 31-48.