DISCLAIMER:
I do not claim this information as my own, these notes were made using the prescribed readings
provided to me by my lecturer.
,Theme 4: female drug related offences and sex work
The nature and extent of the involvement of women in drug-related crimes:
Drug abuse seems to be a defining factor in female crime in the sense that it
is an almost omnipresent factor in the profiles of various types of women
offenders
Research confirms that drug use is associated more with female criminality
than with male criminality
The profiles of women drug users, reasons for drug use, and roles women
assume in drug subcultures vary greatly and will be examined by highlighting
the findings of a number of authoritative research studies
The findings of Mann, who compared male and female heroin abusers, were as follows:
Young, black and other minority women were overrepresented in the sample.
These women were much younger than white female addicts. Yet, female
drug addicts were still older than their male counterparts
Female heroin abusers were more likely than male addicts to be separated,
divorced or widowed. In other words, they were less likely to be in a romantic
relationship. Yet, female heroin abusers were significantly more likely to have
children
Female heroin abusers reported more general disorganisation and economic
insecurity in their early family lives than men
Female heroin abusers often reported sexual abuse by fathers and other male
relatives
Rosenbaum conducted a phenomenological study among 100 female heroin abusers
specifically and the findings reflected the following:
The women committed a variety of crimes to support their drug habit
including dealing in drugs, sex work, shoplifting, burglary and car theft
Addiction to heroin changes sex work patterns for women. Call girls are sex
workers who are often educated, physically attractive and well-groomed.
They are in a position to charge high rates for their services and often
function independent from pimps. Rosenbaum noted how addiction to heroin
resulted in call girls getting caught in a downward spiral to end up as street-
based sex workers (streetwalkers). The reason for this is that heroin addiction
can cause severe and alarming changes to the user’s appearance including
gum inflammation, bad teeth, skin abscesses, a pockmarked complexion and
2
, dangerous weight loss. Hence, their physical deterioration results in them
ending up at the very bottom of the sex worker hierarchy
She also noted that women heroin addicts suffer greater social stigma than
men who are heroin addicts. She added that women heroin addicts are not
attractive to non-addict men. Consequently, if they are in a romantic
relationship, they choose as partners other addicts, which makes it almost
impossible to escape the addiction
Inciardi and colleagues investigated the effect that addiction to crack-cocaine has on the
lives of women:
They noted that the women in their study were victims of extensive physical
and sexual abuse and that the motivation offered for their addiction alluded
to drug use as a form of self-medication as a result of their history of personal
victimisation
They also point to the fact that addiction to crack-cocaine changed the
patterns of sex work among their participants. They specifically refer to the
phenomenon of “crack house sex” which is destroying the economic viability
of street-based sex work for women addicts. Addict female sex workers sell
sex in crack houses in exchange for drugs, which means that the cash that
was earned from street-based sex work is lost and they then have to turn to
other types of crime to get hold of money
Adler describes in an ethnographic study through participative observation, the drug
subculture and the roles women assume (please note not South African research). A key
observation was that women enter drug subcultures through their relationships with men.
She identified a small number of independent women drug dealers, wives of dealers and
“dope chicks” who hang around drug dealers because it gives them access to drugs. Other
fairly traditional roles identified were the following:
Middling where women are used to bring parties in contact with each other
to negotiate high level organised drug deals between crime syndicates
Drug mules are used to carry drugs across international borders. Some drug
mules are aware of the fact that they are carrying drugs on behalf of a
syndicate, because it is either very lucrative or they are forced into smuggling
the drugs through threats of violence. An interesting dynamic is that some
drug mules are set up as bait at international border posts where officials
receive tip-offs from the syndicates of specific women carrying drugs in order
to distract the attention from a larger consignment of drugs being
transported. Other drug mules are completely unaware of the fact that they
are transporting drugs with packages being hidden in their luggage or by
agreeing to transport an innocent looking parcel for a friend
”Steerers” or “stouts” are typically street-based sex workers who refer clients
to places or persons where drugs can be purchased
3
I do not claim this information as my own, these notes were made using the prescribed readings
provided to me by my lecturer.
,Theme 4: female drug related offences and sex work
The nature and extent of the involvement of women in drug-related crimes:
Drug abuse seems to be a defining factor in female crime in the sense that it
is an almost omnipresent factor in the profiles of various types of women
offenders
Research confirms that drug use is associated more with female criminality
than with male criminality
The profiles of women drug users, reasons for drug use, and roles women
assume in drug subcultures vary greatly and will be examined by highlighting
the findings of a number of authoritative research studies
The findings of Mann, who compared male and female heroin abusers, were as follows:
Young, black and other minority women were overrepresented in the sample.
These women were much younger than white female addicts. Yet, female
drug addicts were still older than their male counterparts
Female heroin abusers were more likely than male addicts to be separated,
divorced or widowed. In other words, they were less likely to be in a romantic
relationship. Yet, female heroin abusers were significantly more likely to have
children
Female heroin abusers reported more general disorganisation and economic
insecurity in their early family lives than men
Female heroin abusers often reported sexual abuse by fathers and other male
relatives
Rosenbaum conducted a phenomenological study among 100 female heroin abusers
specifically and the findings reflected the following:
The women committed a variety of crimes to support their drug habit
including dealing in drugs, sex work, shoplifting, burglary and car theft
Addiction to heroin changes sex work patterns for women. Call girls are sex
workers who are often educated, physically attractive and well-groomed.
They are in a position to charge high rates for their services and often
function independent from pimps. Rosenbaum noted how addiction to heroin
resulted in call girls getting caught in a downward spiral to end up as street-
based sex workers (streetwalkers). The reason for this is that heroin addiction
can cause severe and alarming changes to the user’s appearance including
gum inflammation, bad teeth, skin abscesses, a pockmarked complexion and
2
, dangerous weight loss. Hence, their physical deterioration results in them
ending up at the very bottom of the sex worker hierarchy
She also noted that women heroin addicts suffer greater social stigma than
men who are heroin addicts. She added that women heroin addicts are not
attractive to non-addict men. Consequently, if they are in a romantic
relationship, they choose as partners other addicts, which makes it almost
impossible to escape the addiction
Inciardi and colleagues investigated the effect that addiction to crack-cocaine has on the
lives of women:
They noted that the women in their study were victims of extensive physical
and sexual abuse and that the motivation offered for their addiction alluded
to drug use as a form of self-medication as a result of their history of personal
victimisation
They also point to the fact that addiction to crack-cocaine changed the
patterns of sex work among their participants. They specifically refer to the
phenomenon of “crack house sex” which is destroying the economic viability
of street-based sex work for women addicts. Addict female sex workers sell
sex in crack houses in exchange for drugs, which means that the cash that
was earned from street-based sex work is lost and they then have to turn to
other types of crime to get hold of money
Adler describes in an ethnographic study through participative observation, the drug
subculture and the roles women assume (please note not South African research). A key
observation was that women enter drug subcultures through their relationships with men.
She identified a small number of independent women drug dealers, wives of dealers and
“dope chicks” who hang around drug dealers because it gives them access to drugs. Other
fairly traditional roles identified were the following:
Middling where women are used to bring parties in contact with each other
to negotiate high level organised drug deals between crime syndicates
Drug mules are used to carry drugs across international borders. Some drug
mules are aware of the fact that they are carrying drugs on behalf of a
syndicate, because it is either very lucrative or they are forced into smuggling
the drugs through threats of violence. An interesting dynamic is that some
drug mules are set up as bait at international border posts where officials
receive tip-offs from the syndicates of specific women carrying drugs in order
to distract the attention from a larger consignment of drugs being
transported. Other drug mules are completely unaware of the fact that they
are transporting drugs with packages being hidden in their luggage or by
agreeing to transport an innocent looking parcel for a friend
”Steerers” or “stouts” are typically street-based sex workers who refer clients
to places or persons where drugs can be purchased
3
