The assumption that women are inherently more peaceful, less aggressive and less prone to war than men is a familiar one in International Relations and even in Feminist Security Studies. Across the international political spectrum of literature, this argument has been grounded on – and challenged – based on biology and/or socialization. Such processes have affected women’s choices and career options, particularly from the perspective of social conservatives. Traditional militarists have used such arguments to exclude women from combat roles in the military. Some feminists, in an attempt to empower women, claim that a world run by women would be more peaceful and less warlike. Nationally and internationally, they argue, having more women in powerful decision-making positions would lead to a more peaceful world. My project is based on the premise that the assumption according to which women are less aggressive or warlike than men is in part mistaken.

Studying the agency of women who employ violence is important because it allows for a more nuanced and complex analysis of both gendered violence and gendered security. In addition, it is important to extend the analysis to a consideration of feminist scholarship that predominantly addresses women as victims, but tend to ignore the complexity of their engagement in conflict as perpetrators. My project documents the lives and activities of women who are not necessarily employing violence reactively, as victims, but rather as powerful political and economic institutional leaders – albeit in supra-legal circumstances. In this process, they are transforming power structures of highly masculine organizations that have significant transnational/ trans-boundary impacts. Yet, although integral part of the story they are invisible. Consequently, my project examines three country cases (Italy, Colombia, and Mexico) where women have ascended to what we might think are unusual positions of power and leadership – they have become what I describe as “queenpins” in transnational criminal organizations (mafias, drug cartels, and to some extent guerillas).

Dr. Simoni holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC). She has a B.A. in Political Science -International Relations concentration- from Universitá degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza and and an M.A. in Political Science from California State University Long Beach. Her teaching and research interests include International Relations, International Security, Transatlantic Relations, International Organization and Foreign Policy.  She has published her first manuscript entitled Understanding Transatlantic Relations: Whither the West?(2013) with Routledge. Breaking away from the conventional way to study transatlantic relations, she uses a constructivist theoretical lens to argue that the transatlantic partners'; changing identities since the early 1990's have influenced their political interests and, as a consequence, their national security policies. Her new manuscript addresses the role violence plays in processes of organizational,
economic and political change by analyzing a particular form of women's political agency—their participation as militants in transnational criminal organizations. This subject has been largely ignored in the mainstream International Relations literature on security and violence. Studying the agency of women who employ violence is important because it allows for a more nuanced and complex analysis of both gendered violence and gendered security. In addition, it extends the analysis to a consideration of feminist scholarship that predominantly addresses women as victi\ms, but ignores the complexity of their engagement in conflict as perpetrators. This book documents the lives and activities of women who are not necessarily employing violence reactively, as victims, but rather as powerful political and economic institutional leaders – albeit in supra-legal circumstances. In this process, they are transforming power structures of highly masculinist organizations that have significant transnational/ trans-boundary impacts. Consequently, this book turns to violent women in Italy, Colombia, and Mexico who are leaders, and/or are in positions of responsibility, in criminal organizations (mafias, drug cartels, and to some extent guerilla groups).