Understanding women’s role in illicit activities is key to reducing their likelihood of becoming associated with violent extremists.

Women’s involvement in illicit economic activities in West Africa is not new. However, in a region where terrorism is rife, such actions expose them, like men, to the dangers of becoming associated with violent extremist groups.

Institute for Security Studies (ISS) research shows that women contribute to these groups’ intelligence networks, support their recruitment efforts and facilitate their logistical supply chains, among other activities. Their involvement comes with strategic and operational advantages, as they draw less attention than men and are less likely to be searched by predominantly male police and soldiers.

ISS research in northern Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo documents women’s involvement in several illicit activities, including gold panning and trading in drugs and counterfeit medicines. The studies also reveal the role of terror groups in illegal gold panning and hunting, the livestock economy, and fuel and cannabis trafficking.

Participating, even indirectly, in such activities can help sustain violent extremist groups by providing them with food and medicine. The illicit trade in fuel, phones and sim cards enables their operations, and sales from illegal gold panning offer them a source of income.

Terror groups generally look to establish relationships with traders (men and women) who are used to moving from town to town, including across borders. Traders can inform them about their communities and the environments they pass through, enabling militants to procure and transport various goods.

Understanding the role of women – and why and how they get involved – is key to reducing their participation in illicit activities and their risk of association with terrorists.

Women are vital links in the supply chain that enables illicit activities. Their involvement goes back decades and stems from individual choices linked to unemployment, limited financial capacity, and little or no education.

For most, getting involved provides an income to support themselves and their families. Earnings are quick, profitable and higher than those attained from traditional activities such as subsistence farming or small-scale livestock rearing.

In the case of counterfeit medicines, some women get involved in response to communities’ need for health services that are usually costly and not provided by governments. Others have been introduced to these activities by mothers, sisters, friends or companions.

Illegal gold panning is a major economic activity in many parts of West Africa. For example, in Burkina Faso’s east and south-west, and parts of north-eastern Côte d’Ivoire, it has enabled insurgents to finance themselves and partner with those already involved in the activity.

Women perform various essential functions in artisanal gold panning, from extracting, processing and trading to, in rare cases, providing financing. Most are washerwomen who supply water for washing the stones, transport the rubble to sorting areas, and recover gold particles, if they are lucky, from the sieves and washing water. These arduous tasks provide women with a variable income, depending on their experience.

Women are sometimes also involved in transporting the gold, concealing it in bags of food or other goods such as clothing, to bypass police controls and avoid highway robbers. Some have become investors and head up artisanal operations that bring together washers and diggers, and even play a role in reselling the gold.

ISS research shows that these women are among the most prosperous in the business. They buy raw gold directly from the miners and resell it to intermediaries or buyers, including from neighbouring countries.

It is difficult to determine the origin of funding for gold mining, and the destination and end use of revenues from gold sales. As a result, the financing and sale of illegally mined gold could involve money laundering or be used for terrorist financing.

Illegal gold panning leads to other socioeconomic ecosystems where women play a major role. They are particularly active in the trade of foodstuffs, clothing, medicines and narcotics (tramadol, stimulants, aphrodisiacs, cannabis, etc.), which workers say help them overcome the physical constraints of gold mining.

ISS research reveals that extremists also attempt to recruit women working on gold panning sites in northern Côte d’Ivoire to start catering businesses and cook for them.

When it comes to trading in counterfeit medicines and pharmaceutical products, such as tramadol and its derivatives, women are generally involved at the end of the sales chain. They work as retailers in local markets, camps, villages, and even gold mining sites. Some act as semi-wholesalers or wholesalers, working for or buying from larger wholesalers who are exclusively, if not predominantly, men.

Women involved in the counterfeit medicines trade don’t usually need capital to get started. Some wholesalers provide them with products on agreement that payment will be made once the goods have been sold. This enables women with limited financial resources to become involved and prosper by gradually increasing their economic autonomy.

However, the lack of capital could expose some women, even unwittingly, to receiving funding from people associated with terror groups. And maintaining links with those involved in trafficking counterfeit medicines could help extremists get medicines for their own treatment.

The ISS study found women traders involved in the trafficking of cannabis, some of which is grown in Benin’s Atacora and Donga departments. Women believed to be militants’ wives help transport cannabis from Matéri commune markets to Kourou-Koualou, an area frequented by violent extremists. Cannabis is presented as moringa – a herb used as a vegetable or in traditional medicine in West Africa and beyond – or concealed in goods or food products.

Women’s involvement in illicit activities stems from complex dynamics that must be recognised by governments and stakeholders involved in preventing terrorism. Repressing these activities without dealing with the root causes of community involvement is unlikely to bring stability. Interventions must combine economic alternatives and social protection that offer viable and sustainable solutions.

Governments must continue to combat illicit activities and the factors that enable them, including corruption. Where possible, activities such as artisanal gold mining should be formalised and regulated. This approach could reduce the risk of women becoming associated with violent extremist groups.

Written by William Assanvo, Regional Office for West Africa and the Sahel & Jeannine Ella Abatan, Senior Researcher, ISS Regional Office for West Africa and the Sahel