The Use of Violence and Gender Dynamics within Camorra Clans

In the literature dedicated to mafia criminality, violence appears almost exclusively as a male act. Women are the victims, or collaborators, of fathers, husbands and brothers. This is a model put forward by the men belonging to the clans themselves to defend their women, but also to ensure their support coming from outside of prison. Wives, sisters and mothers, according to this version, are never directly involved in the group’s organisation, not to mention committing violence. Influenced by the codes and values of the Sicilian mafia, whose own statutes limit positions in centralised management to men, this model was accepted for years by investigators and judges among others. Turning our attention to the Camorra, instead, leads us to the heart of a violence managed by women who may also take on a commanding role. In this chapter we will consider gender violence within Camorra clans, based on an analysis of a series of cases from the ’90s to the present day. An initial part will consist in drawing a few parallels with women who appear as protagonists in literary portraits and trials in 19th-century Naples. This comparison will allow us to retrace a few elements showing a historical continuity in female roles within Neapolitan criminal milieus and illegal markets. The second part will analyse the events surrounding a few women who held a position of command within clans and others who, in managing criminal and illegal activities, have directly committed violence, exercising a despotic control over these territories no less than their men.