The Gendered Life Cycle of Forced Criminality: Female Victims in Southeast Asia’s Online Scam Industry

This article examines the gendered dimensions of forced criminality in Southeast Asia’s online scam industry through a life-cycle lens. Drawing on in-depth interviews with female survivors trafficked to compounds in Cambodia, Myanmar, and other regional hubs, it traces their trajectories from pre-recruitment vulnerabilities through captivity, release, and reintegration. The findings show how women’s experiences were shaped by an absence of community-based support at every stage, leaving them reliant on precarious survival strategies that often reinforced patriarchal control. Inside the compounds, gendered coercion including sexual violence, reproductive control, and emotional manipulation was intertwined with militarized labor regimes designed for maximum economic extraction. After exit, participants faced continuing risks, stigma, and economic insecurity with little formal assistance. The analysis underscores the need for gender-sensitive interventions that disrupt rather than reproduce cycles of exploitation, highlighting the importance of breaking the cycle through sustained, multi-stage support.