Women’s vulnerability for drug related offences in Sri Lanka “with special reference low-income area in Colombo

Drug related offences include the possession, manufacturing or distribution of drugs classified as having a potential for abusive usage. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), rising unemployment and reduced opportunities caused by the Covid 19 pandemic are also likely to affect the poorest, making them more vulnerable to drug related offences as an enabling tool to earn money. Drug use increased far more rapidly among developing countries than developed countries in the global context. At the same time the data shows an increased number of women being arrested for drug-related offences in absolute terms worldwide. Sri Lanka’s drug related records also indicates that there is a small proportion of women that are being engaged in drug related offence and it is at its highest when comparing to statistics of 2011. The research that has been carried out thus far shows that most of the women are engaged in drug related offences due to poverty. This research which was conducted with an objective of Identifying the socio economic background of the women which cause women to engage in drug related offence continuously also revealed that poverty and the environment influences women engaging in drug related offence with no exception. The research conducted with secondary data identifies that the Social Status/ Background, the Economic Status/Background, the Environment and the Sub Culture do influence the women in low income families in engaging in drug related offences and it is highly connected with their residential areas, especially in Colombo and Colombo Suburb. There has not been given gender specified attention in the strategies to address this issue. Attention should be given to gender based drug related offences before it become worse. Therefore it urges the immediate tactful intervention in reducing women engagement in drug related offences in low income areas to breakdown the trend of increasing the engagement of women.