Bottom-up contributions to drug policy innovation through peer-led responses to gender-based violence: following MANAS’s collective

MANAS collective is a self-managed project that promotes mutual support, the creation of safe environments and new advocacy agendas. Located in Intendente, Lisbon, the group includes cis and trans women who use drugs (WWUD), migrants, sex workers, and/or experiencing homelessness, who face multiple forms of daily violence. Through an ethnographic approach, this article analyses MANAS’ contributions to the development of action research that strengthens collective identity through community care activities and activist actions that advocate popular participation for political innovation. In addition, the article explores peer leadership and the extent of the creation of a space for women in GAT IN Mouraria service.