Women and Mafia

Alessandra Dino


Between alienation and inclusion

Until recently, available research and studies on the Mafia dealt only cursorily with female figures. When
they did, they were limited to acknowledging the historic exclusion of women from the public sphere of power and
from the exercise of activities formally and explicitly recognised by Cosa Nostra.
Furthermore, the Mafia has always wanted to highlight, instrumentally, particularly to the outside world
womens alienation from the organisational structure of the group, a structure characterised by a rigid unisexuality in
which, time and again, women were assigned the basic and invisible functions of silent family tutors, devoted to the
education of the children, reduced entirely to the role of wives and faithful partners.
The stereotype according to which women had no space within organised crime in the Mafia, receives ample
and authoritative confirmation; thus, even in cases where women were to be sentenced for a crime, punitive measures
were frequently ignored because of the belief that women were incapable of acting in a responsible and autonomous
way (Fiandaca 1997).
However, this trend has on the whole been somewhat uneven. In a trial in 1983, for example, it was decided
that a group of women involved in Mafia activity could not be punished because, acting on the basis of presumed
deep-rooted custom derived logically from the conservative and machoistic conception of the Mafia, they were
considered to be external to the business and family affairs, and were limited, at most, to sharing certain values, to
expressing their omert (silence) and to undertaking, when requested, activities to assist their husbands and guarantee
them impunity. All of these activities, whilst arguable from a moral standpoint, do not normally fall under the rule of
penal law, and are therefore not punishable(Tribunal of Palermo - Prima Sezione Penale, Provvedimento di non luogo
a procedere sulla richiesta di misure di prevenzione, May 1983, cit in Principato/Dino 1997, pp. 44-45). On the other
hand, in 1904, in a case against a woman on trial for Mafia crimes, it was highlighted that her involvement was not
reducible to mere aiding and abetting, but rather closer to knowing participation and complicity in the execution of the
criminal activity of the group (Rivista Penale, 1904, pp. 583-584). Recognition of the hypothesis that women, even
in the absence of any formal affiliation, could be full participants in the Mafia, dates back to the sentence in 1999 by the
Court of Cassation of a group of women of the Calabrian ndrina of the Mammoliti ("Il Sole 24 Ore", 13 novembre
1999).

On the whole, female marginality within Mafia organisations has always been set against a system of male
power (Minicucci 1987, 1996, Cornelisen 1977, Siebert 1999). And it is this general lack of power that can explain the
fact that, when a woman features in news of a Mafia crime, she is heavily portrayed as an exception to the rule, as
almost mythical when compared to the other men of the same criminal faction. Her beauty or youth are brought into
prominence, her cruelty and brutality are highlighted. The legendary aura that surrounds her serves to justify the
attention taken away from the male figures. Through exceptionality, the bias of silence and marginality is side-lined
and another takes its place: that of diversity, of non-inclusion in the normal female gender. There is an unwillingness to
leave the stage to women and for this reason they are not seen. Precisely because exceptional behaviour is expected
from women, normal criminal activities, that men would be prosecuted for, are not recognised. The irony is this:
marginal figures, to be considered normal, should have exceptional characteristics (such is the price of normality for
women). This however, ignores the fact that in oligarchic and hierarchical systems like the Mafia, there can only be
very few apical figures and it is normal that among these, women account for an even smaller number. There are
plenty of henchmen and side-liners, those figures that, without pulling the trigger, allow for the organisation to exist:
offering assistance and cover to those in hiding, communicating and transmitting messages, assisting in the collection of
protection money, shadowing; all activities, in other words, where the presence of women can be perfectly acceptable
and in fact, indispensable.

In actual fact, the role of women has always been instrumental in guaranteeing cohesion within Cosa Nostra.
In particular, women have assumed and still occupy a crucial position in the family, fundamental institution and
solid nucleus of power in the structure of the Mafia: as mother, a cornerstone guaranteeing continuity and the transfer of
values, with a central role in the education and socialisation of children, and as wife, consolidating allegiances among
men achieved through marital strategies that have the function of tightening bonds and alliances among Mafia
families.

Another important area for which women are chiefly responsible is that of the relationship with the sacred,
religion and the Church. Furthermore, women have a strategic role in portraying a respectable and reassuring image of
the organisation. Within the middle classes of the Mafia, the role of maintaining contacts and social relations in the
professional world, has been frequently attributed to the wives of men of honour. Moreover, women become
dependable figures particularly in times of emergency (for example, the detention of one or more relatives), when it
becomes necessary to continue in the management of important tasks within the group: from the collection of protection
money, to the assistance of men in hiding and even the management of the clans.
If we wish to understand the complexity of the issue, we will need to break it down into its component parts.
In this way, as an example, if we wished to explore the relationship between the variables tradition/innovation, we need
to establish the extent to which old customs remain (or new customs are formed) within the structure of the Mafia in
relation to the role of women: if these have changed and/or increased over time. To illustrate the point, the following
figures are worth considering: in 1990, only one woman was denounced in Italy for 416 bis one again in 1991, 10 in
1992, 9 in 1993, 16 in 1994 by 1995 that number rose to 89 and in 2000, in Sicily alone, the total was 43.
Other variables that can be used for which we can collect and compare data are the types of crimes which
involve women; the personal, social and professional characteristics of the women (age, occupation, level of education,
social extraction, etc); their geographical location, place of birth and/or place of residence (e.g. east or west Sicily); the
type of activities undertaken; the degree of autonomy from male power and the degree to which they have authority
over their activities (relation between power/authority); the existence or not of blood ties with other Mafia families; the
relation between the public and private sphere.
Finally, even if we take the view that women are only the victims of male power, we run the risk of
confirming a male stereotype: if there are victims, these are individual cases and we must not uncritically ascribe a label
to a category. The argument that women are merely temporary replacements of their men, awarded power for a limited
period, holds little weight. The notion of a temporary delegate can mask the actual change of role, the need to make use
of women that is hidden behind delegated power which is by its nature, removable at any time. Failing to recognise the
active role of women creates conflict and division and we are faced with cases of women who find themselves in a
situation that they did not want or choose, that they are forced to live whilst not endorsing. A case in point is Felicia
Bartolotta Impastato who chooses to thoroughly embrace her double belonging and diversity, however tragic and
painful.

A synthetic comparative study.

If this is roughly the scene within which women in the Mafia operates, then the factors that determine the role
of women in other Mafia organisations such as the 'Ndrangheta, the Sacra Corona Unita and the Camorra, are not
dissimilar.
In the Camorra too (Allum in AA.VV. 2003), women play a strong and decisive role, characterised by greater
visibility compared to women in Cosa Nostra. Like with Cosa Nostra, there is no formal affiliation, but their role in the
organisation is in the foreground, played out through emotional, social, economic, political and criminal participation.
Regardless of the type of role (from simple assistance of men in hiding, to being the figurehead of illegal enterprises or
of money laundering, to direct front-line participation in criminal activities), female figures are indispensable to the life
of the criminal organisation. Their roles however, change over time, in response not only to the needs of the
organisation but to broader social and political changes. From the end of the second world war, Allum suggests the use
of three periods that correspond to three precise periods in the life of the Camorra to identify the changing roles of
women. The first period, from 1945-1975 sees women in a supporting role, essential but hidden. From 1975-1990, the
role of women becomes more visible, in particular in the defence of members of the family, against public opinion and
within the Mafia clan. The last period that goes from 1990 to today shows a greater number of female figures involved
directly in the illicit activities of the organisation. Their role became more evident and recognised however much male
members attempted to limit the scope of their activities and authority.
As far as women in the Ndrangheta are concerned, it is important to remember that for a long time they were
seen as family beings, integrated into a traditional, pre-modern environment and subordinate to the dictates of a
patriarchal world (Siebert in AA.VV. 2003), and therefore primarily as backward and passive women. In such a
context, women were not spared acts of violence and humiliation, as an attempt to reassert with force the balance of
power in the family, society and in the organisation.
An emblematic story is that of the women of the Calabrese family Serraino Di Giovine, and in particular, that
of Rita Di Giovine (who later became an informer) who, forced to have sexual relations with her father, gave birth to his
child, and was then abused and rejected by her mother who blamed her for having given in to her fathers violence
(Siebert in AA.VV. 2003).
The role of women in the Ndrangheta is conditioned by the processes of modernisation and the territory
within which the families work. It is more common to find emancipated women whose criminal activities are more
evident and recognised in the Consentina area. It is important to note a distinctive feature about the Calabrian Mafia: the
fact that structurally it is based on family-ties, where immediate family, criminal family and Mafia gang often coincide
(Ciconte, 1992). As a result, women are more involved, even only emotionally, in the activity of the organisation. The
women of the Ndrangheta played a primary role for example, in stemming the tide of informers, using both emotional
blackmail (because betraying the organisation meant betraying the family), or through mediation played out among the
wives or mothers of aspiring informers to convince them to change their minds in return for offers of money to the
family.
Activities conducted by women include passing on messages to relatives in prison or in hiding, assistance to
absconders, participation in the collection of protection money and more generally, in the economic activities of the
organisation (not to mention the role of women in arranging marriages as the bases of new alliances among Mafia
families, and in the education of the children). In the Ndrangheta there is even the possibility for women to take an
honorary title for services rendered: they are called sisters of omert. In the words of the informer Antonio Zagari
(1992, p. 12), The rules of the Calabrian Ndrangheta do not allow for the affiliation of women, although the title of
sister of omert is awarded to those women that are particularly deserving; without however taking the oath of
allegiance which is obligatory for men; nonetheless, it would be rare for the title to be given to a women who was not
already the wife, daughter, sister, girlfriend or at least relative, of a man of honour.
The image of women in the Ndrangheta is in the process of change, with more marked or visible roles
depending on developments in society at large. It would be wrong however to see the increased presence of women as
the fruit of a process of straightforward emancipation. Instead, it is an ambiguous emancipation, the assertion of a
female pseudo-subject; the violence exercised by men in the organisation does not allow for the free expression of a
female subjectivity and women are forced to seek solace in pseudo-images of the modern woman that mask an
imbalance of power and an ever present use of violence (Siebert in AA.VV. 2003).
In a different category are the women of the Sacra Corona Unit. The official inauguration of the
organisation took place on 1
st
May 1983 on the initiative of Giuseppe Rogoli. It was founded (as discovered in the
confiscated diary of its imprisoned founder) to stem the tide of conversions taking place in prison on behalf of the
members of the New Camorra and to defend the Pugliese territory from infiltration; the legitimacy of the organisation
derived from the investiture of Rogoli from the Calabresi Carmine Alvaro and Umberto Bellocco, representatives of the
Ndrangheta, with whom he had been imprisoned at Porto Azzurro(Massari/Motta in AA.VV. 2003).
The origins of the group, based on the needs of its leaders and founders whilst in prison, conditioned not only
the configuration of the organisation, but also the most important strategies, activities, decisions for the very existence
of the group; included among these was the role of women, involved often through necessity in criminal activities
whilst holding the reigns for their imprisoned relatives. The women in SCU therefore, rapidly progress ..from a period
of acquiescence, of passivity, of implicit support of the activity of men, towards the acquisition of an active role, and
greater prominence (ivi).
Although initially, the intervention of women occurred as a response to an emergency, with time and with the
extended leave of the their male relatives, their position became well-established (even on the release of their relatives).
We can therefore see different degrees of female involvement on the basis of the different activities undertaken by the
women of the group. It is possible to distinguish between: the messenger: the woman who represents the link between
prison and the outside world and who passes on messages to imprisoned relatives; the money-collector: collects money
from the various activities of the group and sees that it is appropriately distributed; the administrator: manages
particular illegal activities or criminal rackets; the consultant: advisory role on particular issues such as disputes
among rival gangs, the management of accounts within the clan, the distribution of power within the family,
etc(ibidem). There are also powerful criminal roles attributed to women noted for their cruelty and determination.
As far as Sicily is concerned, there are also three successive periods within which to place the evolution of
the image, the public presence and the visibility of women in Cosa Nostra, from the end of the second world war until
today (Dino in AA.VV., 2003).
Up until the early eighties, apart from a few exceptions, the role of women is not visible. From the early 80s
on, women in the Mafia begin to be talked about especially where they have been directly involved in crimes, either as
victims, or as perpetrators, or as assistants.
This process of immersion and greater prominence continues until the mid nineties (the second period) with
some new characteristics: women are now present in the public stage, releasing explicit statements to the media, for the
entire period of the emergenza-pentiti.
Finally, the third period - which goes from around 1996/1997 until today is characterised by a new type of
invisibility. No longer do we see women talking to the media or being talked about in the media, but rather women
whose activities appear in the media because of their total integration in the organisation: most prevalent are young
women, wives, sisters or partners of Mafiosi who give their full support to the workings of the organisation. Today, in
the case of women and in that of Cosa Nostra in general, the difficulty of following up investigations and obtaining
information is owed to the fact that once more, everything has gone underground and and is hard to trace.
It seems however, that a new type of female figure is beginning to emerge, a professional figure with specific
competencies that are put to use in the organisation, a more organic figure who is at the same time rooted by tradition to
the family, according to the winning tradition/innovation formula that is distinctive of Cosa Nostra.
We do not yet know if this new role is a sign of things to come; but we can be sure that the transformation
and development of female roles and figures within the Mafia cannot but condition the future arrangements of internal
hierarchies and the evolutions in the relations between criminal organisations; similarly, it cannot but condition the
relations between local policies and globalisation that the internationalisation of Mafia organisations and every
process of globalisation inevitably brings with it.

Published in the review "Narcomafie", in 2004, "Dizionario di Mafia e Antimafia".



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