This volume examines women and wildlife trafficking via a collection of narratives, case studies and theoretical syntheses from diverse voices and disciplines. Wildlife trafficking has been documented in over 120 countries around the world. While species extinction and animal abuse are major problems, wildlife trafficking is also associated with corruption, national insecurity, the spread of zoonotic disease, undercutting sustainable development investments and erosion of cultural resources, among others. The role of women in wildlife trafficking has remained woefully under-addressed, with scientists and policymakers failing to consider the important causes and consequences of the gendered dimensions of wildlife trafficking. Although the roles of women in wildlife trafficking are mostly unknown, they are not unknowable. This volume helps fill a lacuna by examining the roles and experiences of women with case studies drawn from across the world, including Mexico, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, South Africa and Norway. Women can be wildlife trafficking preventors, perpetrators, and pawns; their roles in facilitating wildlife trafficking are considered from both a supply and a demand viewpoint. The first half of Women and Wildlife Trafficking assesses the range of science, offering four different perspectives on how women and wildlife trafficking can be studied or evaluated. The second half of the book profiles diverse case studies from around the world, offering context-specific insight about on-the-ground activities associated with women and wildlife trafficking.
This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of wildlife crime, environmental law, human geography, conservation, gender studies and green criminology. It will also be of interest to NGOs and policymakers working to improve the efficacy of efforts targeting wildlife crime, the illegal wildlife trade and conservation more broadly.
1. The Roles of Women in Wildlife Trafficking are Mostly Unknown, But Not Unknowable / Meredith L. Gore and Helen U. Agu
2. Using a Feminist Political Ecology Lens to Explore the Gendered Dimensions of Wildlife Trafficking Literature / Cydney Andrew and Helen U. Agu
BOX 1 Voices from the Field: Offenders / Helen U. Agu and Meredith L. Gore
3. Women as Agents of Change in Efforts to Disrupt Illegal Wildlife Trade / Jessica Graham
4. Using a Feminist and Green Social Justice Perspective to Better Understand Governance of Wildlife Trafficking in Mexico / Inés Arroyo-quiroz, Jesús Ignacio Castro Salazar, and Serena Eréndira Serrano Oswald
5. Health Implications of Women’s Involvement in Wildlife Trafficking in Nigeria / Amelia Ngozi
BOX 2 Voices from the Field: Defenders / Helen U. Agu and Meredith L. Gore
6. Women, Wildlife Crime, and Sustainable Livelihoods in Cameroon / Eric D. Nana
7. Women in the Rhino Poaching Conflict: A Feminist Political Ecology Analysis / Francis Massé, Nicia Givá, and Elizabeth Lunstrum
8. Perceptions of Indigenous Baka Women’s Inclusion in Wildlife Conservation and Exploitation / Jean Christian Mey Boudoug, Helen U. Agu, Pobo Kenfack Serge Ricardo, and Meredith L. Gore
BOX 3 Voices from the Field: Influencers / Helen U. Agu and Meredith L. Gore
9. Shaping Life in the Shadows: Gendered Dimensions of Wildlife Economies and Interventions in Central African Republic / Carolyn A. Jost Robinson, Elizabeth S. Hall, and Melissa J. Remis
10. A Gendered Case File Analysis of Reptile Trafficking and Illegal Keeping in Norway / Ragnhild A. Sollund
BOX 4 Voices from the Field: Beneficiaries and Persons Harmed / Helen U. Agu and Meredith L. Gore
11. Conclusion: Bridging Knowledge–Action Boundaries / Meredith L. Gore and Helen U. Agu
Helen U. Agu is a Lecturer in the Department of International & Comparative Law at the University of Nigeria.
Meredith L. Gore is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland.