Humans are trafficked for a myriad of purposes, whether that be for migration, forced labor, or sexual exploitation. Many are unaware of the role that women assume in the trafficking of others. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) 2020 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons specified that “in 2018, for every 10 victims detected globally, about five were adult women and two were girls.” Given this statistic, it may be difficult to comprehend why any female would actively participate in human trafficking. However, in many cases, they are becoming prominent figures in human trafficking rings. Why? Many women are trafficking others to lessen their own plight, while others find themselves in positions of power where they profit socially and financially.
Roles of Women in Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking is a problem all over the globe and has international underground trafficking rings. When people hear trafficking and women, they assume it is under the premise that women are victims, which is true; on the contrary, women are also perpetrators in many cases. In fact, statistics show that women are highly involved in leadership roles. UNODC reports far more females than male convictions in human trafficking, with 80% of convictions involving women. The averages can break down regionally, however, as Central America and East Asia report fairly equal convictions between males and females. Regardless, the statistics are scary.
Whether a relationship with their own perpetrator exists or for another reason, exploited women often view becoming a trafficker as a way to escape work as a prostitute. Those who had been sexually exploited first, eventually begin exploiting new victims.
The fact that women are often the victims of sex trafficking creates a notion that they could not be involved in the trafficking of people themselves. As a result, women have an advantage of trust when trafficking other females.
Guardians and Bottoms
A female trafficker becomes what is known as a guardian when she recruits victims of trafficking. Female traffickers have success taking on female sex workers because they are able to gain trust faster than a male recruiter would. People cling to whom they find comfort in during unknown situations, and the only familiar caretaker in these situations are often the bottoms, those in charge of taking care of the girls. These bottoms are girls given leadership role from recruitment to caretaking in the trafficking cycle.
In a 2019 report detailing human trafficking within the United States, Dr. Dominique Roe-Sepowitz found that 55.5% of arrested females were bottoms. Knowing the life that these recruits will go through, why do they help bring in other girls? One of the reasons for these women to become involved with the trafficking of other targets is to remove themselves from unwanted sex work. They believe that, if they take on higher roles, then they will not be subjected to prostituting themselves. After all, people are replaceable for the lowest positions because the people at the bottom are less valuable.
Leadership Positions
Human trafficking is a type of organized crime, and organized crime establishes networks and ranks for its members. Apart from slavery and recruitment, women traffickers take on roles of collecting profits, dealing punishments, or advertising for victims’ sexual services. Some women work as coyotes in trafficking networks and travel with their victims. Particularly motivated women can eventually become Madames who manage or lead their own trafficking network or networks.
Own Volition for Personal Benefit
Most of the time, women are forced to serve in their trafficking networks, but in some cases, women commit these crimes to benefit themselves. For instance, the Black Widows in El Salvador lured country girls into urban areas and forced them to marry rich men before the men were killed. Then the women were required by the Black Widows to claim the pension money or life insurance belonging to their murdered husbands.
Many women need the money due to their financial situation. They hope to reduce their own exploitation and gain income, so they submit to trafficking as a solution. Especially for single mothers, playing a role in trafficking may seem like the only solution to their poverty.
Methods of Recruitment
Most women are kidnapped or convinced to join human trafficking at a young age. Often, women begin as victims, but victims are coerced or encouraged to become recruiters themselves in order to obtain their freedom. Traffickers show victims an opportunity to climb out of the lowest spot in the hierarchy. With hope for something better, some female victims take on various roles higher in the human trafficking chain.
Many women in trafficking rings are solely dedicated to recruitment, targeting vulnerable victims. The forms of recruitment they use are diverse but can include the promise of employment and travel opportunities. Generally, victims are recruited in their own communities or through business offers like modeling, dancing, or other entertainment industries. Sadly, when women become traffickers, their bosses not only profit on but also escape liability from their victims. The women have no idea they are taking the fall for their bosses.
Victims are often targeted for their economic vulnerability. Knowing that these victims need money, recruiters offer jobs such as a helper for seniors, as a cleaning staff, or in a dance studio. The illusion of income baits and hooks the victims, later to discover they will not earn anything.
Methods of recruitment and controlling victims also include inducing fear: fear of harm to self or others, debt, and removal of passports and necessary travel documents. This fear leaves women in a situation where they feel they are stuck being a prostitute with no one to reach out to.
Sometimes, victims receive a promise of personal or professional growth, as in the NIXVM cult that masqueraded as a self-help organization. Ex-Smallville actor Allison Mack made headlines as a deputy for leader, Keith Raniere, for whom she trafficked women who were branded and manipulated to be later sexually exploited by Raniere. At least one victim was an aspiring actor who joined under Mack, believing she would be mentored.
Miriam Wijkman and Edward Kleemans in 2019 describe how Brigitta, a female perpetrator in human trafficking, kept female victims in a mindset of being restricted. Constantly reminding the girls of their debt and having them repeatedly raped left the girls feeling helpless and removed any thought of escape. In an attempt to end their own prostitution cycle, women like Brigitta become involved in the process of trafficking others, coercing them through relationships, with financial debt, or promises of money.
Data on Human Trafficking
According to UNODC’s 2009 report, women were more prevalent than men as traffickers in 30% of countries that provided information on gender. Unfortunately, a deficiency of data on females partaking in the process of trafficking others persists due to a general lack of reporting. The Executive Director of the UNODC, Antionio Costa, maintains that, in 2009, “two out of every five countries covered by the UNODC Report had not recorded a single conviction.” More convictions and more data on human trafficking are essential.
Likewise, Wijkman and Kleemans researched female trafficking suspects in the Netherlands from 1991 to 2016. Of the 712 female suspects identified for the study, only 422 of them were convicted, an average of only 18 convictions for every 30 suspects per year. The data gathered from several reports and case studies indicates the growing presence of women performing human trafficking and demonstrates how the conviction rates of men versus women traffickers vary from country to country. Despite the deficit of reported incidents, Wijkman and Kleemans determined that, worldwide, 38% of those suspected of human trafficking are female.
The Need for Change
Female roles in trafficking are undoubtedly a concern warranting raised awareness. Without understanding what it is, why, how, and where it happens, it is unclear how to address the problem. To propose solutions aimed at eliminating instances of human trafficking or holding perpetrators accountable for their actions, it is crucial to understand as many factors contributing to trafficking as possible. Regardless of the reasons females are involved in trafficking—whether wellbeing, coercion, or personal gain—women’s involvement challenges “long held beliefs about the submissive role of women in the sex trafficking dynamic” (UNODC, 2020).
Recently, Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial centered on her involvement recruiting minors for Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 for trafficking teenage girls to be sexually exploited by Epstein. The conviction has drawn renewed attention to the role that women may play in human trafficking. This case, as well as countless others, point to societal flaws that enable human trafficking, and emphasize the necessity to resolve these issues as well as the unjust actions of human traffickers.
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References
Columbian Observatory of Organized Crime (2021, February 4). “Roles of women in organized crime.” InSight Crime. Retrieved January 5, 2022, from https://insightcrime.org/investigations/roles-women-organized-crime/.
Feehs, K., Currier, A. (2021). 2020 Federal human trafficking report. Human Trafficking Institute. Retrieved 5 January 2022, from https://www.traffickinginstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2020-Federal-Human-Trafficking-Report-Low-Res.pdf.
Hays, T. & Larry NeuMeister. Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Epstein sex abuse case. Retrieved January 5, 2022, from https://apnews.com/article/ghislaine-maxwell-convicted-jeffrey-epstein-trial-verdict-63a71a2825eab41184a79e37bb967e90.
Limbong, A. (2021, June 30). Actor Allison Mack sentences to 3 years in prison for NXIVM case. Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2021/06/30/1011728671/allison-mack-sentenced-nxivm.
Roe-Sepowitz, D. (2019). A six-year analysis of sex traffickers of minors: exploring characteristics and sex trafficking patterns. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 29(5), 608-629. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2019.1575315.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2009). Global report in trafficking in persons. Retrieved January 5, 2022, from https://www.unodc.org/documents/Global_Report_on_TIP.pdf.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2020). “Exploited and prosecuted: When victims of human trafficking commit crimes.” Retrieved January 5, 2022, from https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2020/December/exploited-and-prosecuted_-when-victims-of-human-trafficking-commit-crimes.html.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2020). Global report in trafficking in persons. Retrieved January 5, 2022, from https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tip/2021/GLOTiP_2020_15jan_web.pdf. Wijkman, Miriam, and Edward Kleemans. (2019, May 10). “Female offenders of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.” Crime, Law and Social Change. Retrieved January 5, 2022, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10611-019-09840-x