This 90-minute seminar will gather global voices to explore how trauma lies at the core of many substances use challenges — and how rights-based, gender-sensitive, and intersectional responses can make a difference.

The intersection of trauma and substance use is profound. Many people living with addictions have endured traumatic experiences that shape their health, relationships, and communities. Yet trauma often remains overlooked or taboo, creating barriers to prevention, treatment, and recovery.

A trauma-informed approach is essential: one that is clinically effective, human rights-based, and gender-sensitive. But more than that, trauma must be understood from an intersectional perspective — acknowledging how gender, socioeconomic status, migration, ethnicity, and other dimensions of identity intersect to shape both the experience of trauma and the possibilities for healing. Recognising how trauma impacts individuals, families, and communities calls for responses that integrate healing, resilience, empowerment, and social justice.

This seminar — co-organised by Dianova International and WFAD — seeks to highlight why trauma must be central to addiction care and how an intersectional, trauma-informed, rights-respectful approach can transform outcomes.