Women in organised crime groups: A social network approach

Organised crime groups are traditionally understood as being composed of men, with a rigid hierarchical structure and well-divided tasks. However, recent studies have been showing that criminal networks (horizontal structure) are increasingly common and even an alternative to the typical rigid structure in organized crime, which allows for a more flexible, dynamic, and adaptive criminal group. Moreover, women are progressively present in such groups, especially in drug trafficking groups, and, in some cases, play relevant roles inside those criminal organisations. In this study, criminal court files related to trafficking organised crime groups involving one hundred defendants were analysed by applying criminal network analyses techniques. The objective was to examine the participation and centrality of women in the functioning of the drug trafficking groups. The findings show that women have a significant presence within these networks, play important roles inside the criminal networks and enjoy of high centrality positions, being some of them decisive key players in the functioning of the group.