GambleAware donates funds to conduct research into women's gambling

GambleAware, the industry funding body, has awarded a £250,000 ($335,400) grant to a team devoted to new research on women's experiences with gambling harms. They will examine the journeys of both gamblers and "affected others."

The grant was given through a competitive process to Kelsey Beninger, Director at the IFF Social Research Agency, in collaboration with Maria Fannin, Professor of Human Geography, Sharon Collard Professor of Personal Finance, the University of Bristol, Dominique Webb Head of Programmes, and Marina Smith Women's Programme, GamCare.

The consortium will adopt a gendered approach to gambling and gambling harms, placing emphasis on women who have had different experiences with gambling harm.

The 18-month program will use a mix-methods, multidisciplinary, and multisector approach. Roundtables, depth interviews, and community committees will be used to bring together women with lived gambling harms experience.

The research has three objectives. The first is to see the real-life experiences of women about their gambling addictions, treatment and support services. The second is to examine and identify the factors that cause gambling harm among women in Great Britain. The third is to look into the services, interventions and policies that are available to help reduce and prevent gambling harms from women.

GambleAware's five-year Organisational Strategy focuses on the commissioning of this research. It is guided by an overarching vision for a society that is free from all gambling harms.

GambleAware's Research Director Alison Clare said, "Women's experiences of gambling harms are under-researched, often presented as homogenous and in terms of how they differ to men's experiences. We are pleased to have awarded this grant to this strong multi-agency, multidisciplinary team which will be drilling down into the experiences and needs of different communities of women. This is an important step towards ensuring GambleAware and others are commissioning the range of treatment and support services women want and will use."

She added that GambleAware has a commitment to delivering an integrated public health approach to gambling hazards. Understanding the wider factors that drive them - such as gender, race and ethnicity - is crucial to this end.

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