Quando a mulher é protagonista no tráfico de drogas: estudo do caso “Operação Madrinha” na Região do Araguaia (MT/GO)

Abstract

The general objective of this exploratory study is to understand social roles and representations attributed to the woman who traffics in illicit drugs. Specifically, we sought to identify the places that women have occupied in this context by establishing relationships between the functions exercised in crime and the gender roles that are traditionally assigned to them in society. Supported by empirical material, a snapshot of Maria's legal-procedural history was made, responsible for practicing drug trafficking in the region of Vale do Araguaia, known as the “chief” of trafficking, the “queen”. Currently, drug trafficking is the activity that most directs women to imprisonment. Gender characteristics linked to representations of criminal women contribute to the inevitable attribution of the entry and permanence of women in this activity. This study aimed to problematize the link between women and the male figure in drug trafficking and shifting the focus to women as active subjects and protagonists and how this protagonism can have several implications such as greater autonomy, on the one hand, and greater visibility to criminal control agencies for their criminalization on the other.