Algerians weigh in on women's entry into world of crime
2007-08-26
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.
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Anonymous Posted 2007-08-28
What was written in this article is somehow exaggerated as it presents the topic in a catastrophic way.
GAOUAOU YAZID Posted 2007-09-26
Thank you for your explanation, Mrs. Gaouaou.
gaouaou Posted 2008-03-02
This is super- is it real?
bourahla Posted 2008-03-27
These people deserve a lot of respect because they are courageous.
اميمية Posted 2008-04-19
Thanks to the staff working on this site. The reality is that [the Algerian] woman suffers a lot like all other Arab women. In reality the criminality of women is an old phenomenon as it was suggested by the lawyer Bourghoul…But exposing the problem is easy and known by everyone…Where is the solution…Thank you.
جزائرية Posted 2008-04-19
What was said in the article is true and real. The Algerian woman is suffering in silence and soreness, and bears above her powers…Criminality and delinquency are just a method to express what is inside her…
صوت الحقيقة Posted 2008-06-17
For me, the points tackled in the article reflect a reality present in Algeria and all Arab countries. However, we must take into consideration that we shouldn’t find excuses for these women because every woman endures family pressure from her father, brother or husband. Any woman who suffers from a sour social reality (this is widely present in the Algerian society) would choose the criminal life, therefore all women will be criminals. I hope that the administration of the site will tell us how the media tackles the issue of female criminality; do they discuss it in the same way that it discusses male criminality? Are the media compassionate with women, or is it the opposite? Do the media discuss it with more severity and firmness? Can we feel some exaggeration and harshness. Or in other words, do the media take the position of judge and condemn women to marginalization and discontent? I hope that you will like my comment. I also hope that the administration of the site will reply to my question.
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