Factors contributing to women being used as drug mules: A phenomenological study of female offenders incarcerated at the Johannesburg and Kgoši Mampuru II Correctional Centres in South Africa

Abstract

Women and gender minorities are disadvantaged by systemic inequalities relating to the lack of access to finances/income, resources to land as well as social and educational resources. This article provides a nuanced understanding of factors contributing to women being used as drug mules. Data were collected in 2019 through in-depth interviews with 20 offenders who were convicted for narcotics crimes, specifically drug trafficking, and were serving an imprisonment sentence at the Kgoši Mampuru II and Johannesburg Female Correctional Centres in Gauteng, South Africa. The participants were from 12 countries, namely, South Africa, Congo, Thailand, Brazil, Venezuela, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Paraguay, Angola, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, and Malawi. This research found that women are primarily recruited as mules due to their vulnerable economic position. The findings of this research will assist in developing recommendations on how to deter and prevent the use of women as drug mules in drug trafficking syndicates, which will be impactful to the Criminal Justice System (CJS), governments and the general public.

Keywords

• drug mule
• drug smuggling
• drug trafficking
• female
• illicit drugs
• women