Female drug users at risk of exploitation in mixed-sex treatment groups, study finds

Research reports vulnerable women targeted for grooming into sex work and calls for gendered response'

Female drug users are at risk of being groomed into sex work and other forms of exploitation when they attend treatment programmes with men, according to new research.

Some women reported feeling vulnerable to predatory males" in mixed groups where they were often outnumbered two-to-one by men, but said they were not given an option to access women-only treatment programmes.