Contrary to expectations, many women are active in organized crime. Criminal justice expert Mara Garavini Seisselberg explains why they are still so invisible
Ms. Garavini Seisselberg, almost everyone knows drug lords like Pablo Escobar or El Chapo Guzmán. However, not so many have heard of Griselda Blanco. She is said to have played a key role in the cocaine trade in Miami in the 1970s. Why are women in organized crime often not noticed?
Gender stereotypes and prejudices are to blame for this. Organized crime is often associated with violence, and violence is seen as a male trait. Women in organized crime are seen as passive, non-violent and subservient to men. If these women are noticed at all, it is in their role as wives, mothers or sisters of criminal men, rather than as active figures. However, these prejudices are not true – and are deliberately exploited by organized crime.