UKGC reaffirms tailored approach to tackling gambling-related harm among women
Regulator cites lived-experience focus groups as it reveals women have concerns over advertising from the industry
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has reaffirmed its commitment to develop more specialised management of gambling-related harm among women.
Announcing the strategy on International Women’s Day (IWD), the regulator said there was an urgency to generate a better understanding of how women are impacted by gambling, and how to develop strategies to specifically help combat harm.
The UKGC revealed that over the last few months it has brought together 14 women from diverse backgrounds to discuss their lived experience with gambling-related harm to help inform future policy.
Via the body’s Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP), the UKGC drew four key conclusions to barriers facing women from accessing help.
The UKGC pointed to the stigma surrounding females accessing support, with gambling seen as a more “acceptable” activity for men. The body added that subsequently women are less likely to engage with formal support services.
The focus groups also revealed there was a desire for much wider availability of support for women by women, as opposed to a traditional male-focused approach.
There were also calls for tighter controls on industry practices aimed at women, with some in the focus groups highlighting pink adverts and incentives such as spa days.
Finally, it was established that there is a desire for operators to provide a “much higher level of care, protection and respect for women, especially in the predominantly male environments”.
The UKGC said that the pressures on women in society differed from those faced by the opposite sex and a more female-orientated tailored approach was key to supporting them moving forwards.
The UKGC said: “Women are so often the ones who are protecting others in the family. They carry the burden of debt, despair and hopelessness. They cover up for loved ones. Take on extra work to try and clear family debts [and often] gamble alone.
“When they seek help and support for themselves, they are not taken seriously. These are clear and present dangers for women. Instead of holding it together and picking up the pieces, we want to be the change and see the change that’s so urgently needed.”