08 Mar 2026
This International Women’s Day, we are reflecting on the progress being made to support women in recovery and highlighting the ongoing challenges they face.
Women remain underrepresented in community substance misuse services across the UK - a reality reflected in our own work at The Forward Trust. In 2024–25, 33% of our clients were female. While this number has grown steadily in recent years, we know that many women still face barriers that prevent them from accessing and engaging with drug and alcohol treatment services. Recognising these challenges, in 2024 we established an Accessibility Working Group focused on improving access, engagement, and outcomes for underrepresented groups, with women identified as a key priority.
To better understand how our services are experienced by women, our Research Team recently conducted consultations with female service users, interviewed frontline and operational staff, reviewed programme materials and undertook secondary research. This work identified several key themes:
Many women accessing our services have experienced domestic abuse, sexual violence, or child removal. Our consultations revealed that existing services do not always meet these complex, trauma-related needs.
Gender-specific groups were described as vital in creating safety, honesty, and emotional comfort.
Programme manuals, physical environments, and residential settings often implicitly assume male participants, limiting suitability for women.
Inconsistent communication, fragmented care pathways, and caring responsibilities were reported as obstacles to engagement.
Despite these challenges, women consistently described Forward Trust’s services as transformative, with more than half saying the support had “saved their life.” Strong therapeutic relationships, compassionate staff, and peer connection were repeatedly highlighted as key strengths.
Over the past couple of years, we have been actively developing and strengthening initiatives to improve access, engagement and outcomes for women. Our research reinforced the importance of this work and highlighted women’s priorities, which will help to shape ongoing developments. These initiatives include:
Monitoring participation and outcomes to ensure women’s experiences and recovery progress are better tracked and understood.
Development of a Female Prisoner Practitioner Handbook to support gender-responsive, trauma-informed care in women’s custodial settings.
"The Prison Practitioner Handbook for the Female Estate, co-designed with frontline staff, is designed to support practitioners in delivering gender‑informed work with women in custody, recognising the distinct experiences and needs they can present with. It provides guidance, practical information, and core skills to strengthen effective engagement, embed trauma‑informed practice, and foster positive, professional relationships with the women they support." Stacey Budds, Service Development Manager
Domestic abuse awareness training for frontline staff, enhancing their ability to support women with complex needs.
Women-only groups across our East Kent and Southend community hubs, complemented by existing peer-led groups within Forward Connect.
"The women who attend the groups all say the same thing, they feel heard, safe and seen...for me, that is validation that the group works and are very much needed within our communities. I couldn't be prouder of the strength and courage these women have during really tough times." - Kelly Cooper-Smith, Inclusion Practitioner, East Kent
Childcare funding to remove barriers for clients accessing support in our Essex service.
Expanded access to specialist support through partnerships, including sexual health workers, support for women involved in prostitution and cervical smear test nurses, improving women’s access to essential care.
Women’s recovery housing in Kent, Medway, and Southend, designed to help women who are recovering from drug or alcohol dependency.
These initiatives are designed to address the systemic barriers women face, create safe and supportive spaces, and ensure that our recovery services are responsive to their lived experiences.
We are committed to building on the progress made and ensuring that women continue to have equitable access to our recovery services. Over the coming year, we will be trialling women’s drop-in sessions in local family centres, redesigning some of our programme materials through a gender-responsive lens and strengthening partnerships with specialist women’s organisations to address complex needs such as trauma and caring responsibilities. By embedding these improvements into our programmes and sharing our learning across the sector, we aim to create recovery services that are genuinely inclusive, responsive, and effective - helping more women achieve sustainable, life-changing outcomes.
