Algerians weigh in on women's entry into world of crime

26/08/2007

Recent Algerian police figures indicate a significant rise in criminality among Algerian women. Police have called for research into the phenomenon and several civil society representatives provide their opinions.

By Said Jameh for Magharebia in Algiers – 26/08/2007

[Said Jameh] Since 2001 nearly 12,000 women have been arrested in Algeria for criminal involvement.

A study by Algeria's national gendarmerie released August 15th reports that nearly 12,000 women have been arrested for criminal involvement since 2001. More than 530 were arrested during the first six months of 2007 in what the police have called a rising trend.

The study shows that many women were arrested for illegal immigration to Europe, prostitution, drugs, smuggling and forgery of official records. Some women have been arrested for involvement in murder and assault cases.

Speaking on August 15th, Lieutenant Samir Zouaoui, who follows women’s crimes at the Algerian Police Directorate, warned of a future escalation of the phenomenon and called on sociologists to examine the trend and offer interpretations of its causes and suggestions to quell it.

Zouaoui suggested the rise in women’s involvement in criminal activity might be attributed to difficult social conditions, such as poverty, aging, school dropout and family breakdown.

Zakia Gaouaou, President of social humanitarian association Mounia, told Magharebia "familial degradation", or the heavy-handed manner in which husbands, fathers and brothers treat women is one root cause for women to enter the world of crime.

Gaouaou said some women who are subjected to violence by family members cope with the situation by practicing violence themselves. She noted that a woman once confided in her that she would not hesitate to kill her husband, who brutally beat her, should the opportunity present itself.

Gaouaou said that hopelessness and contemptible social conditions are the second principal reason women commit crimes. She said women who lack a livelihood but must provide for their children are compelled to perpetrate criminal acts. She noted that a woman asked her association for help in escaping the "hell" of selling drugs, which she was forced to take up in order to support her five children following the death of her husband.

Sociology professor Bekakria Djoudi holds a different opinion. In a statement to Magharebia, he said women are turning to the world of crime because they no longer accept their situation in the family and are imitating the roles of men.

Lawyer Khaled Berguel disagrees. He told Magharebia that women's criminal activity has existed for centuries, but was concealed by women’s place in society.

Berguel absolved women of responsibility for their crimes, saying that most of the time men exploit the dire situation of women in need of work by pushing them to sell drugs and contribute to smuggling operations. He said he has defended several women who entered into organised crime "unknowingly and unintentionally".

Berguel pointed out that public authorities lack a genuine social network for women in difficult positions. He called upon the state to provide special training and mental health centres for women suffering from social problems.