Harm Reduction

The Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), a progressive advocacy and training organization at the forefront of national health and drug policy, is seeking a highly motivated Project Manager to coordinate and supervise all aspects of the DOPE Project in its Oakland, CA office. This includes grant writing; budgeting; hiring, training and supervision of Overdose Educators; coordinating and conducting trainings; establishing and maintaining relationships with community based collaborators; engaging in policy advocacy, strategic planning and evaluation activities; and other duties as needed.

News & Opinion This Week 1. A Letter on Rape in Prisons 2. Why Can't Gay Dwarves Get Married In Middle-Earth? 3. A Woman's Brain Hit Harder by Alcohol Abuse 4. Sacrificial Wolfie B Upcoming Conferences and Events C Quote D How To Help E About HRP F Subscription Information ----- I. A Letter on Rape in Prisons By David Kaiser, Reply by Jason DeParle In response to The American Prison Nightmare (April 12, 2007) New York Review Of Books The following letter was received in response to Jason DeParle's "The American Prison Nightmare" in the April 12 issue of The New York Review. To the Editors: Jason DeParle's thoughtful and wide-ranging overview of American incarceration policy and its consequences hardly mentions rape in detention. Yet this is not a rare or trivial part of life behind bars. Neither is it, as some believe, an inevitable one. Prisoner rape has been largely ignored: by journalists, advocates, policymakers, and researchers. The available data therefore, especially on its frequency, are not very good. Still, it is possible to have some notion of the problem's magnitude. Recent studies of prisons in four midwestern states suggest that approximately 20 percent of male inmates are pressured or coerced into unwanted sexual contact; approximately 10 percent are raped.[1] Rates of sexual abuse in women's facilities, where the perpetrators are most likely to be male staff, seem to vary more by institution but are as high as 27 percent of inmates.[2] Since the US now incarcerates more people than any other country, both relative to population and in absolute terms, these percentages translate into horrifying real numbers. The congressional authors of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA), which DeParle does mention (and which is the only piece of federal legislation ever to address the issue), estimate in the bill's "Findings" section that in the twenty years preceding its passage over one million inmates were victims of sexual abuse in American facilities. That number should be recognized as something of a guess; but in the absence of more authoritative studies, it does not seem unreasonable. Prisoner rape is arguably this country's most serious human rights problem.

News & Opinion This Week 1. Sex Abstinence Programs A Waste Of Time And Money 2. Import of Methamphetamine From Mexico Offsets Local Progress 3. Baking Soda Could Go Behind The Counter 4. L.A. Data Show MSM Five Times More Likely To Test HIV-Positive if They Used Crystal Meth

News & Opinion This Week 1. Gonorrhea Increases 42 percent In 8 Western States In Five Years 2. Who's Afraid Of Gardasil? 3. Free-Speech Case Divides Bush And Religious Right 4. For U.S. Troops at War, Liquor Is Spur to Crime

PreventionWorks, a needle exchange/harm reduction program operating in the District of Columbia, has recently applied for funding for a new program they are calling FOCUS. This will be an HIV treatment adherence support program for low-income residents of the District of Columbia who are current or former drug users, are in care for HIV infection, and struggling to focus on their HIV care and/or treatment regimen. Though funding has not been secured, the recruiting of strong candidates -- people with solid backgrounds in HIV and substance use, and who know District resources -- to staff the program has begun.

bulletin from the International Harm Reduction Association "HARM REDUCTION 2007 - coming of age!" The biggest drug conference on the planet takes place 13th to 17th May, 2007, in Warsaw, Poland.

Dear delegates, On behalf of the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, a platform of more than 150 citizens’ association from around Europe, we wish to ask your attention for the following.

ONE YEAR LEFT Dear delegates, On behalf of the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, a platform of more than 150 citizens’ association from around Europe, we wish to ask your attention for the following.

News & Opinion This Week www.harmredux.org 1. Opening Address: The Second National Conference on Methamphetamine, HIV, Hepatitis and HIV: Science and Response: 2007 2. Some Alternative News Coverage from the Second National Conference on Methamphetamine, HIV, and Hepatitis in Salt Lake City

Harm Reduction Coalition Statement: National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, 2007 The HIV/AIDS crisis among African Americans demands increased commitment, innovative strategies, and coordinated action by government, community-based organizations, civic and religious groups, and the African American community. African Americans make up nearly half of all AIDS cases in the United States, and over half of new HIV diagnoses. The majority of women and infants living with HIV are African American.