The nexus between drug trafficking and organized crime: understanding the role of women

This side event will explore the specific risk factors and vulnerabilities that make women and girls susceptible to recruitment into criminal networks, the roles they play in drug-related crime, as well as how to increase the participation of women in organized crime and drug trafficking prevention and exit initiatives, and in law enforcement agencies and judicial bodies working to combat these threats.

By highlighting good practices from across the European Union and wider OSCE area, this side event will offer a unique opportunity to discuss the challenges related to enhancing the role of women to combat organized crime and drug trafficking. Speakers will also highlight concrete examples of how women and girls can be effectively identified and included in organized crime prevention and exit programmes.

The event will be of interest to policymakers, practitioners, researchers and representatives of civil society organizations working in the area of criminal justice and law enforcement, and will take place in English.

Background

Drug trafficking is the most profitable market for organized crime. It causes untold damage to victims and societies, and drives violence and conflict among rival criminal groups. To effectively combat and disrupt drug trafficking operations of transnational organized crime groups, it is essential to understand who is involved and what roles they play.

Organized crime and drug trafficking policies are traditionally seen as gender-neutral, and gendered research on the topic is still scarce. To address this gap, the OSCE has conducted an assessment report on Understanding the Role of Women in Organized Crime. This research shows that women and girls involved in drug-related crimes often remain undetected by law enforcement and criminal justice authorities, as they tend to attract less suspicion. Consequently, criminal networks specifically target and recruit women and girls to transport, hide and sell drugs. The study further highlights that due to gender stereotypes women and girls remain underrepresented in or absent from organized crime prevention and exit initiatives, which remain targeted to men and boys.

It is essential to redefine policies addressing organized crime and drug trafficking to ensure the inclusion of a gender perspective and ensure the participation of both women and men when developing these policies and implementing prevention and exit efforts.

Information on co-organizers

The OSCE is the world’s largest regional security organization with the mandate to support the OSCE participating States in the fight against and prevention of organized crime and drug trafficking. It provides targeted capacity building support to criminal justice and civil society practitioners in Central Asia, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe to implement effective and gender-inclusive responses to the ever-evolving threat of organized crime and drug trafficking.

EU-ACT, a European Union-funded project addressing organized crime and terrorism, is developing activities to support partner countries in increasing the participation of women in criminal justice responses to counter organized crime and drug trafficking. This initiative aligns with the growing recognition of the importance of gender-sensitive approaches in combating transnational criminal activities. By enhancing the role of women in law enforcement and judicial processes, EU-ACT aims to strengthen the overall effectiveness of efforts to tackle organized crime and narcotics trade across borders.

Speakers

• Ms. Anna Salovaara, Deputy Head of Mission, Representative of Finland 2025 Chairpersonship, Embassy of Finland in Vienna;
• Ambassador Alena Kupchyna, OSCE Co-ordinator of Activities to Adress Transnational Threats;
• Ambassador Delphine Hournau-Pouëzat, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations;
• Ambassador Idibek Kalandar, Head of Delegation of the Republic of Tajikistan to the OSCE;
• Mr. Marko Stankovic, Police Officer, Police Directorate, Division for Crime Intelligence System, Montenegro;
• Mr. François Bonnecarrère, Vice-president in charge of investigative functions at the Specialized Inter-regional Jurisdiction of the Judicial Tribunal of Marseille;
• Ms. Martha Stickings, Deputy Head of Strategic Police Matters Unit, OSCE Transnational Threats Department;
• Ms. Rosa Ana Morán, Head of the Spanish Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office;
• Ms. Cristina von Sperling Afridi, Founder/Chairperson at Karim Khan Afridi Welfare Foundation – Pakistan;
• Mr. Etienne Dubern, EU-ACT Key Expert Security Analyst;
• Ms. Maria Sanchez Gil-Cepeda, Project Director, EU-ACT.

Registration 

Register here by 13 March (until 23:59).