Skip to content
Home » Community Blog » Taking Back What’s Ours! A documented history of the movement of people who use drugs

Taking Back What’s Ours! A documented history of the movement of people who use drugs

21 September 2020

From July through September 2020, as part of HIV2020 Online, INPUD and Rights Reporter Foundation released an original ten-part film series – Taking Back What’s Ours! An oral history of the movement of people who use drugs – featuring the stories, histories and reflections of drug user advocates around the world.

Taking Back What’s Ours! A documented history of the movement of people who use drugs is an accompanying research project drawing on accounts from 34 activists across the world in order to document the meanings that people who use drugs attribute to the movement, the challenges and tensions they perceive working within and outside the movement, and strategies for affecting positive change. The report seeks to amplify the voices of leading advocates and identify common features of the movement of people who use drugs, while also paying attention to the influence of contextual factors that may facilitate or impede progress towards the movement’s goals. In doing so we seek to celebrate the movement’s strength and resilience overcoming incredible challenges, and consider the lessons learned from a generation of pioneering activists that may inspire a newer generation to build upon their success. 

We have also developed a short factsheet summarizing the key messages from the report, as well as a global snapshot and timeline overview of the movement. The factsheet contains a QR code on the final page which links to the film project. Download the factsheet summary here.