Women now represent a growing share of people who use steroids, so harm minimisation efforts, currently targeted at men, will need to change too. When people think of gym goers using steroids, the picture that comes to mind is often of a man pumping iron, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, or modern day shirtless masculinityinfluencers like “the Liver King”. But the image is changing.
Women now represent a growing share of people who use steroids. And so harm minimisation efforts, currently targeted at men, will need to change too. Research shows women are increasingly represented among steroid-using communities, even though precise long-term trend data are limited.
A2024 systematic reviewof international studies found about 4% of adult women had used anabolic steroids at least once, up from1.6% in 2014.Among women bodybuilders, nearly 17% – around one in six – report using steroids, and rates among women in strength sports or recreational lifting communities are also markedly higher than in the general woman population. This emerging evidence suggests the gender profile of steroid use is shifting, even if precise historical rates are not available to confirm the exact scale of the increase. First,the rise of strength sports.
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These sports have opened up new spaces for women to feel strong, confident and physically capable. But they also expose women to online communities where performance-enhancing drugs are normalised. Third, many women are being encouraged or “brought into” performance-enhancing drugs use by others. Qualitative research from Australia and Scandinavia shows women often start using steroidsthrough male friends, partners or coaches, who may position these drugs as necessary for progress or competition.
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