Stressful living and domestic violence leads women towards drug abuse; study reveals

Stressful living and domestic violence leads women towards drug abuse; study reveals

Islamabad: (Wednesday, January 11, 2012) drug abuse among women in urban areas of Pakistan is a common phenomenon. However, contrary to the common perception, the trend is not confined to the women from high society only; it is
equally prevalent amongst women from lower economic strata.

The shocking findings along with many more unspoken truths about drug abuse among women in Pakistan have been shared in a report named ‘Substance Abuse amongst Women in Pakistan: Relationship with Domestic Violence’ published and
released by Ministry of Narcotics Control here yesterday.

The study revealed that the substance use exists in all segments of the society, but upper and lower most segments were more vulnerable to it. However, amid the social and cultural stigmas attached to the drug abuse, it was not
easier to track and deal with the issue.

The study was based on 400 structured interviews with women drug abusers from six major cities including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta.

The research revealed that although a major proportion of the respondents was uneducated, but a significant number of women were found having received highest level of education at colleges and universities. Among the respondents,
15 per cent had a university degree, while an astonishing 32 per cent had acquired college education. Most of the women were found less than 40 years of age, which was a clear depiction of the fact that the phenomenon was more prevalent among the younger women.

The study also revealed that more than 50 percent of the respondents were married, while 21 per cent of them were divorced, widowed or separated from their husbands. Moreover, about 49 per cent of the women were living in joint
family systems while 42 per cent of them were a part of nuclear families. Mere 8.2 per cent of them were living at their own.

Most of the women revealed that they started using the drugs as their husbands or brothers did so, and for a stunning majority (68 per cent) the motive behind abusing substance was to seek pleasure, while about 12 percent wanted
to get rid of their stressful lives by indulging into such unhealthy activities.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=8927

Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on Jan 11 2012. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry