Abstract

The phenomenon of women being used as drug mules is multifaceted, involving societal, individual, and systemic factors that intersect to create vulnerabilities and risks for women involved in drug-related offences. 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 highlights the role of psychosocial factors, adverse lived experiences, and gender-specific vulnerabilities of female offenders incarcerated in South Africa, providing a phenomenological understanding of the factors that lead women to be used as drug mules. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with 20 female offenders who were convicted of 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: 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 public.