Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime

We all hold biases and stereotypes. Whether we realise it or not. And it’s good to question ourselves on what we believe to be true! Especially when it comes to gender roles and norms.

In my work as Ambassador to the UN in Vienna, I see this in the way different countries do or don’t consider the gender angle, whether that’s in policy, operational delivery or even the make-up of their own delegations and avoiding all-male panels (manels!). On a positive note, it’s been great to see the increasingly vocal support for gender equality from all geographical regions – this is definitely not a case of ‘the West versus the rest’.

When it comes to tackling crime at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, for example, it could be easy to think that men might be more likely to be seen as perpetrators and women as victims. But that viewpoint is too simplistic. Looking through the lens of gender – in other words, gender mainstreaming – helps us to take a step back and consider how society impacts the roles of men and women in crime. This influences fairer decision-making and creates fairer policies, for all, not just women.

This is especially true when it comes to transnational organised crime; that is the networks of gangs who work across borders and between continents to smuggle drugs, migrants, money, commodities and so on… Organised crime impacts women and girls differently than men and boys. When empowered, women can help break criminal chains, but they are also actors in criminal markets, something that is often overlooked. Understanding these dynamics are crucial to make sure we are taking the right actions when deciding on policies and laws to tackle crime.

At the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) plays an important role in tacking global action on just this. It meets every two years for a week, with the next one taking place 14-18 October 2024. It’s an exciting time to collect ideas, exchange best practice and agree on new ways forward. Lots has changed in the last two years; there are new challenges ahead, and so there will be even more to discuss and reflect on this year.

But the need to keep a gender perspective, has not, and never will change. At the UN we are seeing a small number of countries trying to dismantle gender equality in UNODC and across the UN (you can read my thoughts on this in my previous blog). But it has galvanised us, alongside lots of countries and civil society groups, to take action.

The Global Initiative on Transnational Organised Crime, a key actor in the civil society space, has recently taken a closer look at gender issues when it comes to crime and provides a great (and brief!) insight into the key issues.

Its recommendations are:

1. Enhance gender disaggregated data and analysis of organized crime.
2. Boost gender-responsive and gender-transformative programming to address organized crime.
3. Amplify gender discussions and women’s issues in the international debate on transnational organized crime.
4. Empower women-led initiatives and ensure participation of women in the policy space.

What surprised me most about it was that decades after the UN began talking about gender equality, and more than 20 years since the UNTOC was agreed, states are only now beginning to think beyond the stereotype of women as the victims of organized crime.

Gender mainstreaming in organised crime is not a “women’s issue”. It is as GI-TOC have rightly pointed out often the “missing piece” in preventing and combating organised crime.

Click here to read GI-TOC’s briefing paper on gender and organised crime.

I spoke to the Global Initiative on Transnational Organised Crime on why gender in organised crime matters. You can listen to the conversation here.