War is good for business — the nexus between organised crime and sexual violence in conflict
Sexual violence in conflict does not arise from opportunistic violence. Instead, it is organised, calculated and embedded in the business models of criminal groups.
Sexual violence in conflict is not incidental, but a deliberate, profit-driven violence embedded in the business models of organised crime, thriving on weak global accountability and a fragmented international response.
For years, academics and activists around the globe have evaluated the cost of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), which is estimated at $1.5-trillion globally a year. Despite this staggering figure, sexual violence continues to devastate communities, and persists in peacetime, during conflict and after conflict.
Emerging research shows that sexual violence has become increasingly profitable.
According to the International Labour Organization's 2024 report, human trafficking generates an estimated $236-billion in annual profits, a 37% increase since 2014. Forced commercial sexual exploitation accounts for more than 73% of these total illegal profits.
Eurídice Márquez, a specialist at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, says that areas facing economic crises and instability increase the risk of vulnerable populations falling victim to human trafficking, particularly regarding high rates of sexual exploitation, sexual enslavement, forced marriage and the recruitment and exploitation of child soldiers.
Sexual violence in conflict does not arise from opportunistic violence. Instead, it is organised, calculated and embedded in the business models of criminal groups.
According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, conflicts involving organised crime groups accounted for 79% of the total deaths in non-state conflicts. Despite a decline in overall deaths from organised violence in 2023 since rising in 2020, the figure remains extremely high and a record high since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The result is an insidious continuation of conflict where sexual violence remains not only tolerated but also incentivised.
Conflict not only generates and facilitates violence, but also creates a lucrative market for criminal economies, involving all conflict actors, including state actors and rebel groups, as complicit beneficiaries.
Organised crime groups, including transnational gangs and enterprises, focus primarily on economic gain rather than political objectives during conflict. This fuels global illicit dealings, posing threats to bodily integrity and international security.
Human trafficking occurs in almost every country in the world, but it is particularly rampant during and after conflict. This crime involves the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of individuals by means such as abduction, abusing power and vulnerability, deceiving, coercing, committing fraud, using force or paying benefits to individuals or groups controlling victims for exploitation.
Illegal activities flourish in conflict zones because of their high-profit, low-risk environment.
These conditions arise from fragmented state resources, the breakdown of law and order and chaos, leading to low-risk opportunities and greed. Also, the high profitability of various commodities during conflict raises the profile of sexual trafficking and human trafficking alongside drug trafficking.
Organised criminal groups exploit displaced individuals, missing people and those experiencing food, housing and educational insecurity, profiting from what conflict leaves most vulnerable: human lives.
The International Organization for Migration reports that 72% of human trafficking victims are women and girls. For millions of women and girls, the social, economic and political precarity during conflict makes them commodities in the global criminal marketplace.
Increasingly, boys are exposed to sexual exploitation and the devastation of conflict-related sexual violence, but this continues to go underreported and unseen. This leaves the experiences of men, boys and individuals who identify outside the male-female binary marginalised.
Organised crime involving sexual violence encompasses the criminal exploitation of individuals, often through coercion, manipulation or deception, to engage in sexual activity. Sextortion definitions are often corporatised, with research focused on the 'peacetime' environment, concerning young job-seekers, the workplace, universities and the targeting of teenagers and university students on online platforms.
However, sextortion is also visible during conflict, masked in the phenomena of child marriages, forced marriages, abductions and recruitment.
From the Hope for Justice investigations and casework it was identified that 'the diversification into human smuggling and trafficking is a simple business decision for [the crime groups] who have no regard for human life and make no distinction between drugs and human commodities'.
Organised crime influences armed conflicts by increasing tensions and competition for illicit profits and territorial control. Therefore, in many circumstances, the end of conflict is not profitable.
At present, the global response is fragmented. Sextortion, sexual trafficking and conflict-related sexual violence are treated as separate issues. Accountability mechanisms are weak, with few international frameworks targeting the intersection of organised crime and gendered violence during conflict.
While prosecuting sexual crimes has progressed (albeit slowly), disputes over definitions, case selection and heard and unheard voices persist.
International treaties and principles must recognise the role of organised crime and how conflict has become a marketplace for illicit activity. More investment in research in this nexus is necessary to develop interventions for addressing and eliminating sexual violence in conflict.
We need accountability mechanisms involving anti-trafficking efforts to follow the networks profiting from conflict-related sexual violence, and dismantle this economy of violence. DM
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
World Drug Day: How organised crime fuels South Africa's drug crisis
Some South African parents are forcing their children into addiction – introducing them to drugs or pushing them to deal and trapping them in a brutal cycle of destruction. On World Drug Day, commemorated globally today, the spotlight falls not just on drug users but on the powerful networks behind the supply chain. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has made this year's theme, 'Break the Cycle', a direct call to confront the role of organised crime in perpetuating the global drug crisis. In South Africa, the issue has reached what addiction expert Adèl Grobbelaar, who heads up SANCA Wedge Gardens Treatment Centre in Johannesburg, calls 'pandemic levels'. 'The drug crisis in South Africa is no longer a marginal problem. It is entrenched in every layer of society,' says Grobbelaar. 'Drugs are easily and cheaply available. This normalises use and traps individuals and communities in cycles of substance use disorder and crime.' Organised crime: The engine behind the epidemic According to the UNODC, organised crime is the major driver of the global illicit drug trade, with devastating consequences. South Africa is no exception. Grobbelaar explains that gangs dominate certain areas, controlling the flow of drugs and demanding criminal loyalty from those within their reach. 'In some areas, joining a gang is conditional on committing a crime, which pulls the individual not only into substance use but into a criminal underworld,' she says. The corruption doesn't end on the streets. 'Bribery and missing court dockets are common,' Grobbelaar adds. 'Even when suspects are arrested, drugs continue to flow into correctional facilities. The criminal justice system focuses on violent crimes like assault and trafficking, while drug use often takes a backseat.' Schools: The new battleground 'Drug gangs have infiltrated schools,' Grobbelaar warns. 'They specifically target vulnerable children – homeless kids, those from broken homes, or child-headed households.' Grobbelaar explains that drug lords sometimes offer scholarships to private and public schools, not as acts of charity but as recruitment strategies. 'These children may not use drugs themselves, but they are used to gain customers. If they deliver, they stay in school. If not, the support disappears.' Some parents, shockingly, even push their children into the drug trade. 'We've had clients whose parents introduced them to drugs. It's heartbreaking.' No school is immune. 'We often get learners referred to us for drug testing,' she says. 'I doubt there is a single school in the country that can claim to be drug-free. Sadly, many schools and teachers look the other way, because once you dig, the problems are overwhelming.' She also criticises the lack of alignment between government departments. 'Education, Social Development, Health – they are not working together. Without a co-ordinated effort, we'll never tackle this at the root.' Desperation and inequality Grobbelaar highlights how South Africa's high unemployment rate and deep-rooted poverty create a perfect breeding ground for drug abuse. 'Some individuals resort to selling drugs just to feed their families. Others, particularly the homeless, use drugs to escape the harsh reality of street life.' She notes a disturbing trend: 'Living on the streets becomes a lifestyle, even an addiction. People know where to get food, how to hustle, and how to survive. Some even rent children to play on people's emotions when they stand at traffic lights asking for money.' Breaking the cycle The message for World Drug Day is clear: Organised crime fuels substance use disorders, and it thrives in environments where poverty, corruption, and systemic failure go unchecked. 'The only way to break this cycle,' Grobbelaar says, 'is through collaboration, social investment and community-level interventions. We need more than just talk, we need action.' Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Daily Maverick
19-06-2025
- Daily Maverick
War is good for business — the nexus between organised crime and sexual violence in conflict
Sexual violence in conflict does not arise from opportunistic violence. Instead, it is organised, calculated and embedded in the business models of criminal groups. Sexual violence in conflict is not incidental, but a deliberate, profit-driven violence embedded in the business models of organised crime, thriving on weak global accountability and a fragmented international response. For years, academics and activists around the globe have evaluated the cost of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), which is estimated at $1.5-trillion globally a year. Despite this staggering figure, sexual violence continues to devastate communities, and persists in peacetime, during conflict and after conflict. Emerging research shows that sexual violence has become increasingly profitable. According to the International Labour Organization's 2024 report, human trafficking generates an estimated $236-billion in annual profits, a 37% increase since 2014. Forced commercial sexual exploitation accounts for more than 73% of these total illegal profits. Eurídice Márquez, a specialist at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, says that areas facing economic crises and instability increase the risk of vulnerable populations falling victim to human trafficking, particularly regarding high rates of sexual exploitation, sexual enslavement, forced marriage and the recruitment and exploitation of child soldiers. Sexual violence in conflict does not arise from opportunistic violence. Instead, it is organised, calculated and embedded in the business models of criminal groups. According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, conflicts involving organised crime groups accounted for 79% of the total deaths in non-state conflicts. Despite a decline in overall deaths from organised violence in 2023 since rising in 2020, the figure remains extremely high and a record high since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The result is an insidious continuation of conflict where sexual violence remains not only tolerated but also incentivised. Conflict not only generates and facilitates violence, but also creates a lucrative market for criminal economies, involving all conflict actors, including state actors and rebel groups, as complicit beneficiaries. Organised crime groups, including transnational gangs and enterprises, focus primarily on economic gain rather than political objectives during conflict. This fuels global illicit dealings, posing threats to bodily integrity and international security. Human trafficking occurs in almost every country in the world, but it is particularly rampant during and after conflict. This crime involves the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of individuals by means such as abduction, abusing power and vulnerability, deceiving, coercing, committing fraud, using force or paying benefits to individuals or groups controlling victims for exploitation. Illegal activities flourish in conflict zones because of their high-profit, low-risk environment. These conditions arise from fragmented state resources, the breakdown of law and order and chaos, leading to low-risk opportunities and greed. Also, the high profitability of various commodities during conflict raises the profile of sexual trafficking and human trafficking alongside drug trafficking. Organised criminal groups exploit displaced individuals, missing people and those experiencing food, housing and educational insecurity, profiting from what conflict leaves most vulnerable: human lives. The International Organization for Migration reports that 72% of human trafficking victims are women and girls. For millions of women and girls, the social, economic and political precarity during conflict makes them commodities in the global criminal marketplace. Increasingly, boys are exposed to sexual exploitation and the devastation of conflict-related sexual violence, but this continues to go underreported and unseen. This leaves the experiences of men, boys and individuals who identify outside the male-female binary marginalised. Organised crime involving sexual violence encompasses the criminal exploitation of individuals, often through coercion, manipulation or deception, to engage in sexual activity. Sextortion definitions are often corporatised, with research focused on the 'peacetime' environment, concerning young job-seekers, the workplace, universities and the targeting of teenagers and university students on online platforms. However, sextortion is also visible during conflict, masked in the phenomena of child marriages, forced marriages, abductions and recruitment. From the Hope for Justice investigations and casework it was identified that 'the diversification into human smuggling and trafficking is a simple business decision for [the crime groups] who have no regard for human life and make no distinction between drugs and human commodities'. Organised crime influences armed conflicts by increasing tensions and competition for illicit profits and territorial control. Therefore, in many circumstances, the end of conflict is not profitable. At present, the global response is fragmented. Sextortion, sexual trafficking and conflict-related sexual violence are treated as separate issues. Accountability mechanisms are weak, with few international frameworks targeting the intersection of organised crime and gendered violence during conflict. While prosecuting sexual crimes has progressed (albeit slowly), disputes over definitions, case selection and heard and unheard voices persist. International treaties and principles must recognise the role of organised crime and how conflict has become a marketplace for illicit activity. More investment in research in this nexus is necessary to develop interventions for addressing and eliminating sexual violence in conflict. We need accountability mechanisms involving anti-trafficking efforts to follow the networks profiting from conflict-related sexual violence, and dismantle this economy of violence. DM
IOL News
13-06-2025
- IOL News
SANDF troops return home from DRC mission
South African Minister of Defence Angie Motshekga leaves after conducting a press conference at Tembe Military Base prior to the expected arrival of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers following their deployment to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as part of the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), in Bloemfontein. A first contingent of South African troops repatriated from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo arrived in Pretoria Friday night, the defence ministry said. Videos shared by the ministry showed soldiers in uniform dancing and chanting on arrival at the Waterkloof airforce base in the capital Pretoria, welcomed by airbase staff with cheers and fist-bumps. The troops were deployed under a Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission sent to the war-torn country in December 2023 to help restore peace and security in the region. But the SADC said in March it would end its military mission in the mineral-rich area after 17 of its soldiers were killed. Earlier this year, fighting in the region erupted once more when the Rwandan-backed M23 force seized large swathes of DRC's north and south Kivu provinces -- both of which border Rwanda.
