GambleAware Funds $335K Research for Women Problem Gambling

GambleAware has committed another $335,000 that will go directly to fund research that gauges the experience of women with gambling and gambling-related harm. The grant has been awarded to an IFF Social Research Agency team led by Kelsey Beninger.

The research will be carried out in collaboration with University of Bristol professor of human geography Maria Fannin and University of Bristol professor of personal finance Sharon Collard. The team will be joined by Dominique Webb, head of programs at GamCare, and GamCare women’s program manager Marina Smith.

GambleAware’s grant will allow the researchers to focus on a multi-pronged approach that will allow them to run various roundtables, conduct interviews, and speak to women who have experienced gambling harm. The research will continue for an initial period of 18 months.

Women Gamble Less, But Need More Specific Help

Women, who are traditionally less likely to develop gambling disorders, have still been underrepresented in researches, with the bulk focusing on men who suffer from gambling addiction. Thanks to this new initiative, the initiators hope to better understand the specifics of what women who have lived experiences of problem gambling need in terms of treatment and support services.

Another part of the research will be to focus fully on how female consumers can be protected from gambling harms in the long term and seek a specific mechanism that reduces the prevalence of such behavior in them in the first place. Alison Clare, research director at GambleAware, commented:

“Women’s experiences of gambling harms are under-researched, often presented as homogenous and in terms of how they differ to men’s experiences.”

Alison Clare, research director at GambleAware

Clare is confident that this multi-departmental team would be able to produce the necessary results to limit the harms of gambling on women in the country, and beyond.

GambleAware Continues to Tackle Gambling Harm

The grant is an important step forward for GambleAware to ensure that women will get the right range of treatment and support services to overcome a recognized medical condition.

“GambleAware is committed to delivering a whole-system public health approach to gambling harms and understanding the wider determinants that drive these – including gender, health, race, ethnicity, and inequalities – is fundamental to achieving this,” Clare added.

This comes amid a string of successes against problem gambling in the country. A report by the UK Gambling Commission indicated that the number of problem gamblers has fallen to 0.3%.