THEME 4: FEMALE DRUG RELATED OFFENCES AND
SEX WORK
Demonstrate 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.
Mann -> compared male and female heroin abusers (not SA research)
Mann’s findings (profile of women drug abusers): (NB!!
DEMOGRAPHICS OF THESE FINDINGS)
Young, black and other minority women were overrepresented in
the sample.
• Younger than white female addicts
o Female drug addicts were older than their male
counterparts.
Female heroin abusers (FHA) more likely than male addicts to be
separated, divorced or widowed.
• FHA less likely to be in a romantic relationship, but
significantly more likely to have children.
FHA have more general disorganization and economic insecurity in
their early family lives than men
FHA often reported sexual abuse by fathers and other male
relatives.
Rosenbaum -> conducted phenomenological study among 100 female
heroin abusers (not SA research)
Rosenbaum findings:
, Women committed a variety of crimes to support their drug habit
(Such as dealing drugs, sex work, shoplifting, burglary, car theft
etc.)
Addiction to heroin changes sex work patterns for women in the
following ways:
Call girls are sex workers who are often educated, physically
attractive and well-groomed -> they are often in a position to
charge high rates for their services and often function
independent from pimps
Addiction to heroin resulted in call girls getting caught in a
downward spiral to end up as street-based sex workers
(streetwalkers).
• Reason = heroin addiction can cause severe and alarming
changes to the user’s appearance (such as gum
inflammation, bad teeth, skin abscesses, a pockmarked
complexion and dangerous weight loss) - their 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.
Consequently, they choose other addicts as their romantic
partners (this makes it almost impossible to escape the addiction)
Inciardi & colleagues - investigated the effect that addiction to crack-
cocaine has on the lives of women (not SA research):
Inciardi findings:
Women were victims of extensive physical and sexual abuse
Women’s motivation for their addiction = drug use as a form of
self-medication as a result of their history of personal
victimization.
Addiction to crack-cocaine changed the patterns of sex work
among their participants.
, • Phenomenon of “crack house sex” is destroying the
economic viability of street-based sex work for women
addicts
• Crack house sex = 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 -> ethnographic study thru participative observation on drug
Subculture and the roles women assume (not SA research)
Adler findings:
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 were also identified – such as:
• Middling where women are used to bring parties in
contact with each other to negotiate high level organized
drug deals between crime syndicates. Where distributes
and suppliers meet up.
• Drug mules are used to carry drugs across international
borders.
§ Some know they are carrying drugs for syndicate -
either because it is 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.
O “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.
Article 1: Vanessa Goosen – drug mule
Critical thinking activity: acquaint yourself with Vanessa
Goosen as
an example of a drug mule
Make sure you know who
she is?
Vanessa Goosen (21 years old) was a former Miss South Africa
finalist
She was arrested at the Bangkok airport in 1994 for carrying
drugs hidden in a textbook that her partner asked her to take for a
friend.
- She was born in Port-Elizabeth
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.
She unknowingly became a drug mule
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.
SEX WORK
Demonstrate 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.
Mann -> compared male and female heroin abusers (not SA research)
Mann’s findings (profile of women drug abusers): (NB!!
DEMOGRAPHICS OF THESE FINDINGS)
Young, black and other minority women were overrepresented in
the sample.
• Younger than white female addicts
o Female drug addicts were older than their male
counterparts.
Female heroin abusers (FHA) more likely than male addicts to be
separated, divorced or widowed.
• FHA less likely to be in a romantic relationship, but
significantly more likely to have children.
FHA have more general disorganization and economic insecurity in
their early family lives than men
FHA often reported sexual abuse by fathers and other male
relatives.
Rosenbaum -> conducted phenomenological study among 100 female
heroin abusers (not SA research)
Rosenbaum findings:
, Women committed a variety of crimes to support their drug habit
(Such as dealing drugs, sex work, shoplifting, burglary, car theft
etc.)
Addiction to heroin changes sex work patterns for women in the
following ways:
Call girls are sex workers who are often educated, physically
attractive and well-groomed -> they are often in a position to
charge high rates for their services and often function
independent from pimps
Addiction to heroin resulted in call girls getting caught in a
downward spiral to end up as street-based sex workers
(streetwalkers).
• Reason = heroin addiction can cause severe and alarming
changes to the user’s appearance (such as gum
inflammation, bad teeth, skin abscesses, a pockmarked
complexion and dangerous weight loss) - their 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.
Consequently, they choose other addicts as their romantic
partners (this makes it almost impossible to escape the addiction)
Inciardi & colleagues - investigated the effect that addiction to crack-
cocaine has on the lives of women (not SA research):
Inciardi findings:
Women were victims of extensive physical and sexual abuse
Women’s motivation for their addiction = drug use as a form of
self-medication as a result of their history of personal
victimization.
Addiction to crack-cocaine changed the patterns of sex work
among their participants.
, • Phenomenon of “crack house sex” is destroying the
economic viability of street-based sex work for women
addicts
• Crack house sex = 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 -> ethnographic study thru participative observation on drug
Subculture and the roles women assume (not SA research)
Adler findings:
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 were also identified – such as:
• Middling where women are used to bring parties in
contact with each other to negotiate high level organized
drug deals between crime syndicates. Where distributes
and suppliers meet up.
• Drug mules are used to carry drugs across international
borders.
§ Some know they are carrying drugs for syndicate -
either because it is 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.
O “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.
Article 1: Vanessa Goosen – drug mule
Critical thinking activity: acquaint yourself with Vanessa
Goosen as
an example of a drug mule
Make sure you know who
she is?
Vanessa Goosen (21 years old) was a former Miss South Africa
finalist
She was arrested at the Bangkok airport in 1994 for carrying
drugs hidden in a textbook that her partner asked her to take for a
friend.
- She was born in Port-Elizabeth
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.
She unknowingly became a drug mule
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.
