50% of theft cases last year were committed by women

Women have recently been involved in the world of crime, especially in economic crimes. (REUTERS)

RIYADH: Women and men involved in thefts over the past year have reached 65 cases, including 21 cases accepted by the criminal courts, while 10 cases were rejected, a judicial source said.
Thirty-four cases were returned after taking notes from circuit judges, according to the source who pointed out that 50 percent of thefts were committed by women.
Mohammad Al-Farhid, a criminology and sociology specialist, told local media that “women have recently been involved in the world of crime, especially in economic crimes that have increased in recent years. Such crimes are unlike murders and drugs that are often associated with men, as a result of structural social changes, poverty, unemployment and low income issues.”
He also pointed out that “One of the factors for women’s involvement in stealing is her engagement in social competition, lack of financial stability, inadequate income, lack of emotional stability, and persecution from parents or the husband.”
Al-Farhid explained that the disparity between social classes among women in recent years is one of the causes that led to women’s involvement in mugging and fraud because society has become a race for entertainment, especially for women.
Abdulaziz Al-Nahed, a psychologist, said that “The motives behind women’s committing thefts are different than those of men. Women often do not steal to gain money, but to provide luxuries such as clothing, cosmetics and other women’s accessories due to lack of money. This is also due to the fact that women are interested in fashion and brands that push them to steal in order to obtain such luxuries. They believe that theft is an easy way to help them acquire what they need, in addition to lack of money since childhood.”
He indicated that theft is not necessarily a result of the need for money, and it may be a result of mental illness called “kleptomania,” a recurrent urge to steal, typically without regard for need or profit. “It is a kind of obsession resulting from a psychological disorder spreading globally among rich women.”
Zuhair Khushaim, another psychologist, believes that “theft crimes by women are lesser than men, because of traditions, customs and social norms that play a role in the decline of the crime rate for women.”