Ariane Beaver and Samantha Keogh from the Protecting People Team discuss the intersections between Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and substance use.
Women who have experienced domestic abuse are eight times more likely to use substances than those who haven’t.
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) and substance use are often addressed separately across systems and services.
Recent learning developed by the Improvement Service highlights the importance of understanding how these experiences intersect and what this means for supporting women across Scotland.
This learning draws on engagement with women with lived experience, alongside professional insights. It is designed to support national and local stakeholders across Scotland working to improve outcomes for women and girls experiencing VAWG and/or substance use.
Women’s needs and experiences
The report shows that substance use is frequently linked to women’s experiences of abuse and can be used as a coping mechanism. For some women, substance use develops as a response to the impact of VAWG, including mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression and isolation.
I'd actually got myself massively in a cocaine addiction throughout the relationship, it was hard trying to deal with the trauma and then realising [that I had an addiction]… You use drugs as a crutch because you don’t know what else to do to make yourself feel better.
(Lived Experience Engagement)
Substance use can be embedded within patterns of coercion and control. Perpetrators may use substances to increase isolation, dependence or risk, reinforcing existing abuse dynamics. Women described how their substance use was shaped by the context of coercive or controlling relationships, and how experiences of violence could both contribute to and escalate substance use over time.
Barriers to accessing support
Women face multiple barriers when seeking support. These include being offered unsafe and inappropriate accommodation, inflexible service design and delivery such as strict service thresholds, and stigma and discrimination. Many described being passed between services, with no single service able to meet their needs.
These factors can deter women from seeking support or disclosing their experiences. Engagement with women and professionals highlighted that services can feel like a revolving door, and often women felt their concerns were not taken seriously or they were not supported to find the right support for their needs. Some women also described feeling judged or misunderstood by services, particularly where the impact of trauma was not recognised:
A lot of services are good at talking the talk…’trauma-informed’, ‘lived experience’, but when it comes to actually walking the walk and implementing these thoughts, there’s a bit of a gap there. Services say they’re trauma informed, but that’s not the feeling you get when you’re there.
(Lived Experience Feedback)
Strategic drivers and system challenges
This research sits within a strategic landscape which collectively emphasise prevention, trauma-informed practice, and joined-up responses. This includes Equally Safe; Preventing Harm, Promoting Recovery; and the National Trauma Transformation Programme.
However, the learning highlights that policy and service delivery related to VAWG and substance use can often feel disconnected, creating challenges for professionals responding to women’s overlapping needs.
For practitioners and services, this can result in fragmented pathways, limited opportunities for collaboration, and gaps in shared understanding. Professionals in the engagement shared that staff are under additional pressure to respond intersecting experiences without consistent frameworks, training or integrated service models:
VAWG and substance use briefs appear to work in silos and this is reflected in how services are set up. This is resultant in ineffective services for many women.
Call For Evidence)
Good practice in supporting women
While the report highlights significant challenges, it also identifies key elements that support women’s engagement with services and recovery.
Across the learning, trauma-informed approaches, strong relationships and flexible support models are consistently identified as important. Peer support is highlighted as a particularly valuable model for women:
Peer support [at Saoirse] is the key to basically recovery for, well, anybody…what one needs is continuous peer support where other people can empathise and understand what you're going through… the peer support is what brings things to the surface. It's connection, isn't it?
(Lived Experience Engagement)
We also worked closely with three specialist organisations supporting women affected by VAWG and substance use in our engagement: Saoirse, Scottish Drugs Forum and Simon Community. Their expertise and trauma-informed support are central to improving outcomes for women.
Next steps
The learning report identifies a number of priority areas for improvement, centred on strengthening collaboration across VAWG and substance use services and ensuring responses are more joined-up and person-centred. This includes improving collaboration between services, reducing barriers to access, and embedding trauma-informed, gender-informed approaches across systems.
The Improvement Service will scope opportunities to embed the learning from this project in relevant policies, strategies and mechanisms responding to VAWG and substance use in Scotland. Stakeholders involved in the research, including victims and survivors and professionals, will have ongoing opportunities to inform how the recommendations are taken forward.
- Read the Learning Report
- Read the Executive Summary
Support
No-one in Scotland should have to suffer or live in fear. If you, or someone you know, has been subject to abuse of any kind there are support services available. Please visit the Safer Scotland website for information about support you can access right now.