Theme 4: Female drug related offences and sex work
The nature and extent of the involvement of women in drug-related
crimes
➢ Drug abuse = defining factor in female crime
➢ It is an almost omnipresent factor in the profiles of various types of women
offenders.
➢ 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.
The findings of Mann:
Compared male and female heroin abusers
(not SA research)
➢ Young, black and other minority women were overrepresented in the sample.
- Younger than white female addicts
- Female drug addicts were older than their male counterparts.
➢ Female heroin abusers more likely than male addicts to be separated, divorced or
widowed.
- Less likely to be in a romantic relationship
- Female heroin abusers were significantly more likely to have children.
➢ Female heroin abusers 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 findings:
Conducted a phenomenological study among 100 female heroin abusers specifically
(not SA research):
➢ Women committed variety of crimes to support drug habit including dealing in
drugs, sex work, shoplifting, burglary and car theft.
➢ Addiction to heroin changes sex work patterns for women.
Rachel Tapson
, - Call girls are sex workers who are often educated, physically attractive and
well-groomed.
- 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).
o Reason = heroin addiction can cause severe and alarming changes to the
user’s appearance including gum inflammation, bad teeth, skin abscesses,
a pockmarked complexion and dangerous weight loss.
- Physical deterioration results in them ending up at the very bottom of the sex
worker hierarchy.
- Women heroin addicts suffer greater social stigma than men who are heroin
addicts.
- Women heroin addicts are not attractive to non-addict men.
o 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
(not SA research):
➢ Women were victims of extensive physical and sexual abuse
➢ The motivation for their addiction alluded to drug use as a form of self-medication
as a result of their history of personal victimisation.
➢ Addiction to crack-cocaine changed the patterns of sex work among their
participants.
- 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
(not SA research).
Rachel Tapson
,• A key observation - women enter drug subcultures through their relationships with
men.
• 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 know they are carrying drugs for syndicate, either very lucrative or
they are forced into smuggling the drugs through threats of violence.
▪ Interesting dynamic is that some drug mules are set up as bait where
officials receive tip-offs from syndicates of specific women carrying drugs
to distract attention from 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.
➢ “Coppers” buy drugs on behalf of a client from a dealer and transactional sex
is often part of the deal.
Vanessa Goosen article:
Make sure you know who she is?
Vanessa Goosen (21 years old) was a former Miss South Africa finalist who was
arrested at the Bangkok for carrying drugs hidden in a textbook that her partner asked
her to take for a friend.
Why is her story relevant to the theme?
Her story demonstrates an example of a drug-mule who didn’t even know she was
being a drug mule. She could have been a decoy drug mule to distract away from a
larger smuggler.
What were the circumstances she found herself in and why?
She was arrested for carrying 1.7kgs of heroin hidden in a textbook. She found herself
in this situation as she was doing her partner, who she trusted, a favour by transporting
the textbooks.
What were the consequences?
She spent 16 years in a Bangkok prison for a crime she didn’t even commit, and she
Rachel Tapson
, had to give birth to her baby in prison which meant the baby had to live with her friends
and grew up not knowing her mother.
Article: Drug mules in a South African context
➢ What types of drugs do South Africans drug mules carry, from where and
destined for which markets?
Cocaine from South America & Heroin from Afghanistan and East Asia destined for
Southern African and European markets
➢ Why is South Africa seen as an ideal place for illicit drug trade?
Because of its developed transportation infrastructures, modern international
telecommunication and banking systems and porous borders
➢ Where does South Africa rank in the world in terms of the number of citizens
serving prison sentences in foreign countries for drug trafficking crimes?
South Africa is ranked 8th out of 159 countries
- What are approximate numbers?
Well over 1 500 South Africans are serving prison sentences abroad for drug smuggling
crimes.
- Why is it difficult to ascertain more exact numbers?
Many South African embassies overseas are simply not being informed by a host
country’s authorities of the imprisonment of South African citizens, let alone that those
imprisoned in foreign prisons have been incarcerated for drug smuggling.
➢ What modes of transport are used for drug smuggling (illicit and illicit)?
In illicit transit the drugs are smuggled across borders using private or unscheduled
vehicles
In licit transit, drugs are hidden in regular cargo or baggage on flights or by means of
parcels through postal services
➢ What methods do authorities employ to detect drugs?
Airports and seaports are now increasingly being equipped with sophisticated container
and baggage scanners
Postal distribution centers, that handle international mail, also regularly screen
packages
Full-body scans, X-rays of people and luggage, ion scanners that can detect minute
particles of illicit substances, and sniffer dogs are used
➢ Why are drug mules and their family members reluctant to participate in
research?
They fear for their own lives (syndicates are dangerous), they want to protect their
Rachel Tapson
The nature and extent of the involvement of women in drug-related
crimes
➢ Drug abuse = defining factor in female crime
➢ It is an almost omnipresent factor in the profiles of various types of women
offenders.
➢ 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.
The findings of Mann:
Compared male and female heroin abusers
(not SA research)
➢ Young, black and other minority women were overrepresented in the sample.
- Younger than white female addicts
- Female drug addicts were older than their male counterparts.
➢ Female heroin abusers more likely than male addicts to be separated, divorced or
widowed.
- Less likely to be in a romantic relationship
- Female heroin abusers were significantly more likely to have children.
➢ Female heroin abusers 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 findings:
Conducted a phenomenological study among 100 female heroin abusers specifically
(not SA research):
➢ Women committed variety of crimes to support drug habit including dealing in
drugs, sex work, shoplifting, burglary and car theft.
➢ Addiction to heroin changes sex work patterns for women.
Rachel Tapson
, - Call girls are sex workers who are often educated, physically attractive and
well-groomed.
- 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).
o Reason = heroin addiction can cause severe and alarming changes to the
user’s appearance including gum inflammation, bad teeth, skin abscesses,
a pockmarked complexion and dangerous weight loss.
- Physical deterioration results in them ending up at the very bottom of the sex
worker hierarchy.
- Women heroin addicts suffer greater social stigma than men who are heroin
addicts.
- Women heroin addicts are not attractive to non-addict men.
o 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
(not SA research):
➢ Women were victims of extensive physical and sexual abuse
➢ The motivation for their addiction alluded to drug use as a form of self-medication
as a result of their history of personal victimisation.
➢ Addiction to crack-cocaine changed the patterns of sex work among their
participants.
- 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
(not SA research).
Rachel Tapson
,• A key observation - women enter drug subcultures through their relationships with
men.
• 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 know they are carrying drugs for syndicate, either very lucrative or
they are forced into smuggling the drugs through threats of violence.
▪ Interesting dynamic is that some drug mules are set up as bait where
officials receive tip-offs from syndicates of specific women carrying drugs
to distract attention from 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.
➢ “Coppers” buy drugs on behalf of a client from a dealer and transactional sex
is often part of the deal.
Vanessa Goosen article:
Make sure you know who she is?
Vanessa Goosen (21 years old) was a former Miss South Africa finalist who was
arrested at the Bangkok for carrying drugs hidden in a textbook that her partner asked
her to take for a friend.
Why is her story relevant to the theme?
Her story demonstrates an example of a drug-mule who didn’t even know she was
being a drug mule. She could have been a decoy drug mule to distract away from a
larger smuggler.
What were the circumstances she found herself in and why?
She was arrested for carrying 1.7kgs of heroin hidden in a textbook. She found herself
in this situation as she was doing her partner, who she trusted, a favour by transporting
the textbooks.
What were the consequences?
She spent 16 years in a Bangkok prison for a crime she didn’t even commit, and she
Rachel Tapson
, had to give birth to her baby in prison which meant the baby had to live with her friends
and grew up not knowing her mother.
Article: Drug mules in a South African context
➢ What types of drugs do South Africans drug mules carry, from where and
destined for which markets?
Cocaine from South America & Heroin from Afghanistan and East Asia destined for
Southern African and European markets
➢ Why is South Africa seen as an ideal place for illicit drug trade?
Because of its developed transportation infrastructures, modern international
telecommunication and banking systems and porous borders
➢ Where does South Africa rank in the world in terms of the number of citizens
serving prison sentences in foreign countries for drug trafficking crimes?
South Africa is ranked 8th out of 159 countries
- What are approximate numbers?
Well over 1 500 South Africans are serving prison sentences abroad for drug smuggling
crimes.
- Why is it difficult to ascertain more exact numbers?
Many South African embassies overseas are simply not being informed by a host
country’s authorities of the imprisonment of South African citizens, let alone that those
imprisoned in foreign prisons have been incarcerated for drug smuggling.
➢ What modes of transport are used for drug smuggling (illicit and illicit)?
In illicit transit the drugs are smuggled across borders using private or unscheduled
vehicles
In licit transit, drugs are hidden in regular cargo or baggage on flights or by means of
parcels through postal services
➢ What methods do authorities employ to detect drugs?
Airports and seaports are now increasingly being equipped with sophisticated container
and baggage scanners
Postal distribution centers, that handle international mail, also regularly screen
packages
Full-body scans, X-rays of people and luggage, ion scanners that can detect minute
particles of illicit substances, and sniffer dogs are used
➢ Why are drug mules and their family members reluctant to participate in
research?
They fear for their own lives (syndicates are dangerous), they want to protect their
Rachel Tapson
