South Asian Substance Use

This website is for you if you identify as South Asian and are unsure where to turn to for support, if you are a family member concerned about your loved one’s substance use, if you are a health or social care professional who supports individuals impacted by problematic substance use, or if you commission substance use services and/or develop substance use strategies. On this website, you will find some key resources including:

• a compendium of specialist alcohol and drug support services for people from minority ethnic and migrant communities (Holmes and Galvani, 2023),  
• a free booklet, Alcohol Izzat and Me: South Asian Women in Recovery (Galvani et al., 2023), presenting the lived experiences of South Asian women’s substance use and support. 
• policy and practice guidance focused on supporting South Asian women with problematic substance use (Fox and Galvani, 2024).
  • a model of support for best practice, that meets the needs of SA women developed around the four ‘S’s – Setting, Structure, Skills and knowledge, and Staffing. It is a model that is SA woman-centric and reflects the cultural sensitives required to enable SA women to access services more readily, 
  • a process map that offers a pathway to developing new service provision for SA women seeking alcohol/drug support.
• a research report ‘Keep it to yourself’ Supporting Solutions for South Asian women‘ (Galvani et al., 2023), detailing key findings and recommendations following the completion of our Alcohol Change UK funded project.

Key messages

The following key messages come from our research (Galvani et al., 2023) following a comprehensive literature review, interviews with South Asian women in recovery for substance use, South Asian women from the community, and specialist substance use practitioners:

• Alcohol and other drug use carries high levels of stigma in South Asian communities. 
• People who deviate from these proscriptions can be ostracized and stigmatised by both their families and their wider communities.
• For South Asian women there is cultural disparity and double standards between men and women’s substance use, with a perceived tolerance of men’s alcohol use and an intolerance of women’s drinking.
• South Asian women are keepers of the family image, carrying the izzat, or honour of the family. Actions that deviate from gendered and cultural expectations such as problematic alcohol use, are believed to taint the family image and are seen as bringing shame on the individual, the family and the community. 
• Experiences of domestic and sexual violence, and controlling behaviour, are common for South Asian women who have problematic substance use.  
• Shame and stigma are common feelings resulting from women’s substance use and are often worsened by family fears of community disapprobation.
• Improved knowledge and education about alcohol and other drugs is needed for the South Asian community particularly where to go to seek help for themselves or a relative.
• There is lack of service provision for both men and women from minority or migrant communities in the wider service landscape. Where some specialist services exist for migrant communities in England, no services were identified that support South Asian women specifically 
• Discrete, separate, services are needed for South Asian women seeking substance use support. This should be in the local communities and would be best placed within a service that women would frequent for a range of reasons, for example, a women’s centre or health centre.

Watch our recent webinar

Watch our recent webinar South Asian Women’s Substance Use, with guest speaker Aunee Bhogaita from Brown Girl in a Bottle