Over the past two years, the Marga Centre has rescued 40 women

Around two years ago, the National Committee for Social Protection (CNDS) opened the ‘Marga’ centre in Neudorf — the country’s only specialist day centre for women suffering from substance dependence. The centre operates on a strictly voluntary basis, offering visitors the opportunity to re-establish elements of a normal daily routine, prepare meals, do their laundry and receive support from specialists. The centre’s location was not chosen at random: unlike most other social services, there are no street drug dealers in the vicinity.

Although the centre is officially designated as a supervised injection facility, coordinator Christine Seiwert notes that this function has taken a back seat. Over the past year and a half, injecting drug use has been recorded here only 25–30 times. For most of the service users, whose ages range from young girls to women over 70, physical safety has become the top priority. According to Natascha, a 24-year-old visitor, sleeping on the streets is constantly fraught with the risks of theft and sexual harassment, whereas at the centre, women are given the rare opportunity to get a proper night’s sleep without fearing for their lives.

Since the centre opened, around 40 women have regularly used its services. For some of them, including Natascha, the support provided by the staff has helped them to stop using drugs completely, find their own accommodation and prepare for rehabilitation therapy. However, nurse Lena Toepler emphasises that the process of social reintegration takes time and requires the building of trusting relationships, as well as acceptance of the possibility that a patient’s condition may deteriorate before remission sets in. The facility currently operates from 07:15 to 14:45, but the high demand for its services is prompting the management to consider switching to a round-the-clock service. The Luxembourg Ministry of Health has stated that it is constantly monitoring the system’s needs, although round-the-clock operation of the facility has not yet been officially planned.