Richert Torkel
Department of Social Work, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden.
Front Psychiatry. 2022 May 17;13:882128. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.882128. eCollection 2022.
Street level drug economies are often described as hierarchical and gender-segregated arenas where men hold high positions and control the supply of drugs, and where women are confined to marginal and low-level positions. Few studies have explored income strategies, risks and opportunities of women who use drugs within drug economies in the Nordic countries.
The aim of this study was to analyze women's stories about "taking care of business"-making money and securing drugs-in a local drug economy. The study focuses on the women's gender enactments, the strategies they use to achieve success, and the barriers and risks they face in their everyday endeavors.
This article draws on informal conversations and in-depth qualitative interviews with 27 female drug users in Malmö, Sweden during periods of fieldwork between 2009 and 2012.
The interviewed women had established themselves as entrepreneurs in the local drug economy, working hard for their money. However, only a few held middle or high positions, and all women described encountering gendered obstacles and risks in their efforts to take care of business. The patriarchal and sexualized nature of the drug economy meant special prerequisites for the women's income strategies and gender enactments. Three main income strategies were distinguished in the women's stories: (1) using femininity and sexuality, (2) proving tough and dangerous by using street masculinity, and (3) establishing trust, being professional, and keeping a low profile. These strategies involved different advantages and disadvantages, as well as different types of risk.
The results show that it is possible for women to achieve success in male-dominated drug economies, but that this is associated with major challenges. Gendered social hierarchies, structures and norms seem to influence the women's gender enactments, opportunities and risks. However, factors such as type of drug use, degree of drug dependence and social position, was also decisive for their possibility of taking care of business. This points to the importance of combining a focus on gender with a focus on other determants of power relations and vulnerabilities, when studying the everyday lives of people who use drugs.
街头毒品经济通常被描述为等级森严且性别隔离的领域，男性占据高位并控制毒品供应，而女性则被局限于边缘和低级地位。很少有研究探讨北欧国家毒品经济中吸毒女性的收入策略、风险和机遇。
本研究旨在分析女性在当地毒品经济中“打理生意”（赚钱和获取毒品）的故事。该研究聚焦于女性的性别表现、她们用以取得成功的策略，以及她们在日常活动中面临的障碍和风险。
本文借鉴了2009年至2012年实地考察期间对瑞典马尔默27名女性吸毒者进行的非正式交谈和深入定性访谈。
受访女性在当地毒品经济中确立了自己作为企业家的身份，努力赚钱。然而，只有少数人占据中层或高层职位，所有女性都描述在打理生意的过程中遇到了性别方面的障碍和风险。毒品经济中父权制和性化的本质意味着女性收入策略和性别表现有特殊的先决条件。在女性的故事中区分出了三种主要收入策略：（1）利用女性气质和性感；（2）通过展现街头男性气质来证明强硬和危险；（3）建立信任、保持专业并保持低调。这些策略有不同的优缺点，也有不同类型的风险。
结果表明，女性有可能在男性主导的毒品经济中取得成功，但这伴随着重大挑战。性别化的社会等级制度、结构和规范似乎影响着女性的性别表现、机遇和风险。然而，吸毒类型、毒品依赖程度和社会地位等因素对她们打理生意的可能性也起决定性作用。这表明在研究吸毒者的日常生活时，将对性别的关注与对权力关系和脆弱性的其他决定因素的关注相结合很重要。
