Gender, use and abuse : sexually abused women in alcohol and drug treatment

This chapter draws from a qualitative study of clients and former clients of alcohol and drug services with a history of sexual abuse in New South Wales, Australia. Alcohol and drug workers were interviewed as a separate cohort about their experiences of working with this client group. The study gathered provocative reflections from workers and sexually abused clients on the relationship between past sexual abuse and AOD abuse, and the ways in which treatment paradigms and contexts can facilitate or complicate recovery from substance abuse and trauma. After a brief review of the relevant literature, this chapter will focus on the reflections of client and AOD worker participants whose interviews suggest that AOD use can be understood as a mechanism for establishing a baseline of emotional regulation and control of the untreated, intrusive trauma symptoms common reported amongst sexually abused women. Clients and workers a like suggested that dominant understandings of 'addiction' in the AOD sector did not acknowledge the use of AOD as a coping strategy by sexual abuse survivors. This chapter will examine responses by the AOD sector to the needs of sexually abused women from the perspective of clients and workers before discussing select policy and practice recommendations.