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WHY FUJAIRAH HAS TO VEX OVER FAIR SEX

Most crimes committed by women in the emirate of Fujairah happen to be done by those under 25. This is the finding of a recent study, conducted by Amina Mubarak Abduallah Al Dhahiri from the UAE University on the ‘Crimes of women in the emirate of Fujairah’, ...

who said the UAE society had undergone vast social changes in the last four decades.

Like other societies, she said, the UAE has been suffering from many social problems due to the socio-economic changes. These include drug abuse and juvenile delinquency, but no woman was found to have been convicted of murder in the emirate’s prisons, the study noted. Women who became criminals were victims of wrong upbringing, break-up of family, or an insecure family environment in which social imbalance and a low standard of education in the family were the main culprits, the study said.

The study is designed to identify the reasons and motives behind the crimes. Most of those convicted are young, under the age of 25, constituting 48 per cent of the total convictions, while those in the age group 26-40 constituted 36 per cent, and those above 40 constituted 16 per cent. Divorced women in jail represent 40 per cent — the highest, the study said — while married women came second (33.3 per cent), single women 16.7 per cent, and widows 10 per cent. The study also showed that women with children constituted 73.3 per cent of the total convicts. The majority of women spending their jail term inside the Fujairah Central Prison are Asians, constituting 53.3 per cent of the inmates, followed by Arabs (26.7 per cent), UAE nationals (6.7 per cent), and other nationalities 13.3 per cent, the study said.

Most of the jailed women were well educated, the study said, constituting 67.7 per cent compared, while 23.3 per cent were illiterates. Adultery, the study said, topped the list of crimes, representing 50 per cent, followed by prostitution (13.3 per cent), theft (6.7 per cent) and other miscellaneous crimes constituting 30 per cent of the total felonies. Over half — 53.3 per cent — of the inmates were not visited by anyone, the study said. Excessive freedom was behind 16.7 per cent of the crimes, the study said, while family, parental negligence, and dereliction of duty were behind 13.3 per cent of the committed crimes. Other motives constituted 56.7 per cent.

Women, who were found guilty and jailed for the first time constituted 66.7 per cent, while those who were frequently convicted and jailed represented 13.3 per cent of the inmates. Housewives and housemaids were the largest number of those entering prison for the first time — 40 per cent each, while office employees were 13.3 per cent and girl students constituted 6.7 per cent, the study said. About 70 per cent of the inmates were found to have no family differences, but most of them (93.3 per cent) were suffering from psychiatric problems.

The study, however, came out with a number of recommendations with the aim of curbing the phenomenon, the foremost among these being the need to enact a law fixing the marriage age for women, setting up research centres and strategic, socio-economic units in the country.

The study also called for taking necessary precautionary measures by the Punitive Establishments Department in the country’s jails and security centres to prevent mixing of good people with those having police records. It further called for chalking out national plans concerning security policies to counter the crimes, and the need to ingrain and develop religious awareness in the minds of UAE citizens. Inculcation of the tenets and teachings of Islam in the hearts and minds of people will definitely help keeping society at bay from vice and crimes, concluded the study.