Women face a ‘double standard’ on drinking

‘Stigmatising attitudes’

WOMEN are judged more harshly for drinking than men – even though males suffer more problems with alcohol, according to experts.

Campaigners have raised concerns about ‘unhelpful’ stereotypes and said females are more likely to be stigmatised for ‘risky’ or binge drinking.

They also said women are portrayed as ‘sexual objects’ in alcohol advertising.

The issues were highlighted yesterday by Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (Shaap), the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) and Glasgow Caledonian University.

A Shaap and IAS report, Women And Alcohol: Key Issues, states: ‘Women are much more likely to be the victims of double standards... more likely to be portrayed negatively compared to men.’

In Scotland, alcohol-related hospital admissions were nearly 1,000 per 100,000 of the population for men last year compared with 381 for women. In 2016, 867 men and 398 women died from drink-related issues.

Report authors Victoria Troy and Dr Eric Carlin said: ‘Discussion often focuses on the perceived problem of women’s drinking, with moralistic and stigmatising attitudes.

‘We’ve been trying to explore why this happens and to suggest how we can counter cynical marketing by alcohol producers that exploit rather than emancipate women, as well as suggest how support services can be more women-friendly.’

The Scottish Government said: ‘Alcohol misuse is not restricted to one sector of society.

‘We have pressed the UK Government to do more to protect people from exposure to alcohol advertising.’