Women have had and currently have an important role in this criminal reality, not only because with their marriages they strengthen the clan of origin, but because in the cultural transmission of the mafia heritage to their children and in the direct management of illicit affairs while in hiding or the detention of her husband have, over time, covered increasingly more and more relevant roles.
The 'Ndrangheta, among other things, provides for a formal (albeit subordinate) hierarchical classification for women, who can reach the degree called "sister of humility".