Women in Drug Trafficking: The Identity Construction of Brazilian Reformed Criminals

The exercise of including women on the criminologicalagenda is still in its early stages. Within the fieldof criminology, the absence of research on femaleoffenders is accounted for by traditional studies interms of both women's lower crime rates and theperception that the crimes in which they are involvedare minor. The present work investigates thespecifics of female crimes through the analysis ofseven women's trajectories as drug traffickers in Riode Janeiro, Brazil. The main focus of the study is onthe role played by gender in the construction oftheir identities as criminals and reformed women. Thecentrality of gender is attested by the influence ofmen in their decision to join and quit drugtrafficking, the description of their subordinateroles as traffickers, and the elements presented as'markers of recovery', such as becoming good mothersand dating hardworking men.The analysis should be relevant to researchers in thefield of human sciences, specifically those in thefield of gender, women studies, and criminology. Thework should contribute to draw a more accuratepicture of women involved in a typical male criminalactivity such as drug trafficking.