women's day

Plata o Parca: Insights on the Participation and Role of Latin American Women in Drug Trafficking

Mugshot of Griselda Blanco. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griselda_Blanco#/media/File:Griselda_Blanco_Medellin.jpg

Mugshot of Griselda Blanco. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griselda_Blanco#/media/File:Griselda_Blanco_Medellin.jpg

by: Thais Ricard

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the KCL Latin American Society or El Cortao'.

When thinking about drug trafficking’s protagonists in Latin America, we automatically visualize stocky, bearded, middle-aged men with a stern look and a deep voice. Indeed, by examining the portrayal of the drug world in popular culture  a portrayal built on media headlines and popularised by well-known series like Narcos, which bases its plot on the story of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar – one perceives this world as exclusively within a man’s domain, where women are relegated to background activities and forced to play a passive, supporting role in the domestic sphere. In general, as crime statistics suggest that delinquency is dominated by men, the notion of crime is associated with masculine stereotypes, such as risk-taking and action. The presence of women in drug trafficking – a high-risk and violent activity –is therefore a paradox for gender stereotypes of criminal conduct. Women who take part in this trade are depicted as pathological or masculine, defying the feminine role that a machista society has imposed on them.  

Over the past few years, however, Latin American women have increasingly participated in the trade of illicit drugs, although this involvement has been absent from research related to the narcotics trade and has routinely been underestimated by state and non-state organisations alike. In Colombia, the number of women prisoners has increased more than fivefold, while that of male prisoners has increased just threefold. Now, nearly five out of every ten women jailed are serving sentences for drug-related crimes. This female participation is arguably the result of a long-lasting ‘war on drugs’ which produced the incarceration of many male criminals and created a labour vacuum that has encouraged women to enlist in the drug businesses of their fathers, partners, or lovers.  

Some women have even assumed high-ranking positions in this male-dominated environment. In this context, it would be a good moment to introduce the individual whose mugshot headlines this article: Griselda Blanco, also known as the ‘Cocaine Godmother’. She was introduced to the cocaine industry by her second husband, Alberto Bravo, and proceeded to progressively replace him in his own line of work until she had become one of the wealthiest and most powerful drug leaders in the world. Her trafficking network spread across the United States, bringing in an estimated $80 million USD a month. Considered a pioneer in drug trafficking and a mentor for Pablo Escobar, she established many of the smuggling techniques and murdering methods that are still used today. Not only was she involved in the trafficking of narcotics, but she also played a major part in the ‘Cocaine Cowboy Wars’ that ravaged Miami in the 70s and 80s. Ruthless against her rivals, she was suspected of having sponsored hundreds of killings in the US and Colombia, making her one of the deadliest women of all time. By the time of her assassination in 2012, Blanco had aroused a great fascination among the general public and her story inspired many books, TV shows, or documentaries such as the Cocaine Cowboys (2006).

Although Blanco shows the deep involvement of women in drug trafficking, her story is misleading as it constitutes the exception rather than the rule. Not all women can attain such levels of authority and wealthiness. In this industry, the roles usually performed by women are, in fact,subordinate ones, which is thus concordant with the feminine stereotypes of subservience and passivity. Women are enlisted to cook for laborers and some, such as the poppy flower and coca leaf pickers (known as raspachines), are involved in the first stages of drug manufacturing. They are also used as chemists, who use chemical substances to extract cocaine, or as mules for the trafficking andsale of illegal substances. The use of women as couriers is particularly interesting for drug lords because they are often perceived as innocent and untouchable which makes their smuggling efforts quite successful, as most police attention is focused on men. Moreover, female mules are trained to flaunt their sexuality, by dressing up attractively and flirting with immigration officers to dispel any suspicion with a seductive look. This further reinforces women’s stereotypical role as objects of physical desire.  

Concentrated at the bottom of the chain, women face greater risks as violence is often most pervasive at this level and the rewards are few. The threats they face are two-fold and are split between the general risks involved in drug trafficking and those specific to their condition as women. Both women and men working in the harvesting of illicit crops, for instance, are particularly at risk of falling into drug abuse. A 2019 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),written in collaboration with the Colombian Ministry of Justice, reported that these women and their relatives saw higher cases of substance and alcohol addiction as well as greater incidences of domestic abuse. Moreover, women who operate as mules are the most vulnerable and exposed actors of this black market and, for this reason, often ended up exploited by their bosses and/or imprisoned with disproportionately long sentences despite only occupying a minor position in the commercialization chain.  

Women who perform these roles normally have a level of education no higher than primary school. They are often unaware of the dangers inherent in the drug trade and the seriousness of the penalty levied if caught. Even when they know the consequences, they may still be willing to accept these risks to make money. Indeed, economic incentives are the main factor pushing women into this environment. Lacking legitimate economic opportunities, being single parents, or desiring financial independence, many of these women are left with no choice but to get involved. They may also be pressured by their families, who may declare their participation to be mandatory. This explains why those women, contrary to their male counterparts, are not willing to attract attention to their activities and rarely seek authority. For them, earning money is more important than having power or prestige.

Nowadays, the legislation to address the drug problem is flawed as it exacerbates sex-based discrimination. Women prisoners are most likely to suffer from exclusion, abandonment, and loss offamily ties. Not only does long-term imprisonment create an economic burden for the taxpayer, but itpromises severe, far-reaching effects for individual prisoners, for their children, and for society as a whole. Indeed, as shown by the story of Rocío Duque – a single Colombian mother jailed for 14 years for carrying a small amount of cocaine paste which she received only a modest fee for – current policies foster harsh cycles of poverty and socio-economic exclusion that leads to recidivism. Her account shows how repeat criminals suffer social and state sigma and how recidivism can be unavoidable when there are no reintegration programs to help women to rebuild their lives after being in jail.  

It is time, therefore, for Latin American governments to redesign drug legislation in order forthe latter to demonstrate gender awareness. This will be achieved partly by meeting the gender-specific needs of women in penitentiary centres, and partly by reducing the imprisonment of women through non-custodial correction measures. Overall, policies should now focus on increasing levels of socio-economic development and on improving access to education, employment, and basic healthcare services to avoid any intensification of women’s involvement in drug trafficking.

Thais is a third year History and International Relations student at KCL. Her main research interests are about human rights and security issues such as drug trafficking and insurgency movements. She is particularly keen in analyzing those matters through a gender-based perspective.

Disappearing Women: The Rise of Gender Violence and Femicide in Latin America

By: Anonymous

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the KCL Latin American Society or El Cortao.


The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has hit populations hard worldwide. Death tolls have skyrocketed, hospitals have been full to the point of maximum capacity, and essential healthcare equipment has been limited. However, whilst this is at the forefront of everybody’s minds, the news, and the papers, the pandemic has devastated communities in other, very different ways. One of these is a fundamental increase in violence against women, and nowhere is this more prevalent than in Latin America.


Women across Latin America are disappearing: they are injured, they are dying, they are calling out for help. Nearly 1,200 women disappeared in Peru between March and June 2020, and in Brazil, 143 women were murdered between March and April — an increase of 22% from this time last year. Phone calls to domestic violence helplines rose 130% in Columbia and 70% in Chile during the first eighteen days and weekend of quarantine respectively. Gender violence reports to the police in São Paulo, Brazil in March 2020 were 45% higher than they were in March 2019. With increased restrictions and locked-down countries, gendered violence and femicide rates are increasing dramatically. 

Whilst locking down countries and restricting movement and daily interactions may be reducing the risk of spreading or catching the virus, it serves to increase the risk of violence, injury and death to those who are trapped with abusive partners or family members. UN Secretary General António Guterres stated in April that, “violence is not confined to the battlefield. For many women and girls, the threat looms largest where they should be safest. In their own homes … We know lockdowns and quarantines are essential to suppressing Covid-19, but they can trap women with abusive partners”. With greater exposure to violent partners and mounting household tensions and economic strain, the pandemic is likely to cause a one-third reduction in progress towards ending gender-based violence by 2030. Whilst there is already limited action being taken, the virus has meant that help has only been minimised further. 

Femicide and domestic violence are still widespread globally, and Latin America has some of the highest rates worldwide; fourteen of the twenty-five countries in the world with the highest femicide rates are in Latin America. Laws and regulations concerning this are beginning to emerge, however they are awfully limited, and somewhat problematic. Simply put, governments are not doing enough. Eighteen countries, including Mexico, have distinguished femicide from homicide, and laws have been created to specifically punish femicide, such as introducing longer prison sentences than are given for intentional homicide. Guatemala has created specific courts for the trial of men accused of gender violence, and statistical reports have highlighted the issue. However, there are still fundamental gaps in these measures. In some regions such as Chile and Costa Rica, laws regarding femicide are only applicable to women killed by current or former intimate partners and investigations are often feeble, not to mention the pressing issue of a linguistic and cultural gap preventing women going to court. These are issues that are not being considered and are harming the progression of reducing gendered violence in these countries. In Latin America, ninety-eight percent of gender-related killings go unprosecuted — this outrageously high figure is proof that current measures are simply not working.

Whilst Latin American countries may be putting formal laws in place, and increasing funding for places of refuge such as women’s shelters, the root of the issue is simply not being addressed. Measures taken thus far are to simply punish the act, not to prevent it from occurring, and this is where governments are going wrong. What is not being taken into account is why women are at much higher risk of violence than men; what is causing the normalisation of violence towards women in the first place? Whilst some may argue that it’s a direct result of the inherent patriarchy and machismo still present in society even today, others stand to believe it is stemming from the treatment of women in religion and war. Rape has been used as a weapon of war in numerous conflicts, and perhaps it is the legacy of raping and mutilating women in a wartime environment that has, to some extent, normalised the concept amongst civilian men today. Religion also has a history of exerting control over women, whether that be controlling a woman’s sexuality, or promotion of the idea that it’s a husband’s right to discipline his wife. These are all historic examples of female oppression, and it would be ignorant to believe that they do not still hold weight and influence in the views that men possess of women in the twenty-first century.

Protests have occurred this year across Latin America, from a large protest in Mexico on International Women’s Day in March, to recent protests on the 9th of November, demanding justice for the death of Bianca Alejandrina Lorenzena. On International Women’s Day, the protest held in Mexico was the largest in the country’s history, displaying the enormity of the issue, and the passion shown by women trying to gain the basic needs of safety and respect. Protesters flocked to capital cities in other countries, such as Chile, on this day in March too, and women in Columbia and Peru took part in demonstrations on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women this November. Women are calling out for reform and for change, so why is so little being done? Why, in 2020, are women still forced to demand such essential, basic rights so as to not be violated and murdered by men?

What is fundamentally missing from any action against gender violence is education reform. As much as countries may try to further punish aggressors, or aid those affected, they need to be steering their efforts towards educating the masses on why treating women this way is vitally unacceptable. This is a worldwide issue; rape culture is still rife, women are being taught how to ‘act safely’ rather than men being taught not to rape, not to assault, not to harm. In Latin America this problem is present on a much larger scale, and needs addressing urgently, with the pandemic and increased levels of violence only adding to this urgency. No woman deserves to die, deserves to experience such awful treatment simply because she is a woman. Further acknowledgement of the issue is needed. Better education is needed. A clear legal framework is needed. Above all, greater respect for women is needed.

Bibliography

The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/latin-american-women-are-disappearing-and-dying-under-lockdown-143791

Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1113975/gender-violence-growth-coronavirus-latin-america/

United Nations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXxnZKom6sg&feature=emb_title

UNFPA: https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/COVID-19_impact_brief_for_UNFPA_24_April_2020_1.pdf

Small Arms Survey: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-14.pdf

UNODC: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/gsh/Booklet_5.pdf (p. 47)

UN: https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/dsgsm1224.doc.htm

World Politics Review: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29278/in-mexico-protests-continue-against-a-historic-spike-in-femicides