644 Algerian women involved in crimes in 2008

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.

• Latest statistics showed more than 644 women were involved in criminal acts during 2008 in Algeria.
• These figures reveal that criminality in Algeria is not only men’s task, but also women more and more involved in crminal acts. They become important partners to criminal men and professional criminals in some cases which lead them to courts and prisons.
• Many women were arrested for theft, murder, prostitution, drugs, smuggling, forgery of official records and illegal immigration to Europe.
• Statistics found that 49 women are involved in illegal immigration and 46 in smuggling foreign products. They are numerous in conducting prostitution networks in Algeria.
• Sociologists say 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. T
• 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. Consequently they entered into organized crime “unknowingly and unintentionally”.
• The lack of a genuine social network for women in difficult positions by public authorities plays a big role in the rise of criminality, that’s why the state must provide special training and mental health centres for women suffering from social problems.
• Previously a study by the Algerian National Gendarmerie revealed August 15th that nearly 12.000 women have been arrested for criminal involvement since 2001 and more than 530 were arrested during the first six months of 2007 in what the police have called a rising trend.
• According to Nation Master Site, Algeria is ranked 116 with 1.8%, where as Thailand (20.3%), Bolivia (16.7) and Qatar (11.8) are on top of the list about crime statistics.
• According to the Annual Report 2006 by the International Centre for Prison Studies more than half million women and girls are held in penal institutions throughout the world.