Indebted Women in Egypt

The status of women in any society is an indicator of its progress and growth and also a global standard that countries and societies look at, especially with the increase in the percentage of women heads of their families at the global level and in Egypt in particular.

Some studies indicate that households headed by women are the poorest of households headed by men, for example: in Egypt, 36% of rural households headed by women live in extreme poverty compared to 28% of households headed by men, due to women’s suffering from qualitative discrimination and inequality in access to basic services such as education, health and others, and Customs and traditions play a key role in entrenching qualitative discrimination

The problem of poverty emerges with the increase in the proportion of working women, which prompted thinkers to coin the term “feminization of poverty” in Egypt. The Egyptian state has tried to confront it with all courage by combating poverty in Egypt’s Sustainable Vision 2030, launching projects to empower women economically, and working effectively to confront the problem of debt, which has caused the disintegration and displacement of many families

Over the past decade, the problem of debt in Egypt has received unprecedented attention from the political leadership and put it at the forefront of priorities while working to solve it in all ways and with the concerted efforts of the government and civil society organizations.

The strategic forum for public policies and Development Studies “Draya” issues a research paper highlighting the reality of the problem of fines in Egypt, related indicators, challenges facing fines and finally the efforts of the state to deal with this problem.

The results and recommendations reached by the paper so that they can be put before the decision maker to contribute to developing alternative solutions that contribute to drying up the sources of debt are as follows:

1-  Carrying out a number of legislative reforms that allow replacing the penalty for indebted women and referring them from misdemeanors to civil courts, while replacing the prison penalty with civil service, where society benefits from the services of fined women instead of putting them in prison.

2- Conducting more social and economic studies to examine the causes of this phenomenon, study all its aspects, and develop appropriate solutions.

3- Creating channels for safe and easy borrowing within the framework of proactive interventions to prevent debtors from falling victim to exploiters and lending brokers.

4- Directing the faculties of social service in Egyptian universities to focus studies and research on the issue of debt and coordinating with the Ministry of Interior to find a mechanism for updating data and networking with the concerned authorities.

5- Implementing a media campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of debts and its negative effects on society

6- Preparing a map at the level of the various governorates of the Republic showing the poverty hotspots that are the concentration of male and female debtors, and targeting them with available plans and strategies to reduce the size of the debt.

7- Motivating mosques and churches to launch an intensive awareness campaign to educate citizens about the dangers of fines.

The first axis : the concept of indebted women 

A debtor woman can be defined as ” a woman who entered prison because of signing receipts to merchants as a result of purchasing devices or something similar in installments and failed to pay on time and subsequently entered prison for long periods, up to several years, and they are different from prisoners of murder, drugs, manners or theft” .

Debtors can also be defined as “women who resorted to debt to help their families improve economic conditions and overcome poverty, and were unable to pay on time, which caused them to go to prison”.
The increase in the number of debtors is due to three main reasons:

1-borrowing to buy marriage supplies, where the mother buys the supplies through exhibitions with a monthly installment system and the woman stumbles on the payment, and the matter enters the court.

2-the woman buys an item at an inflated price for a monthly installment and immediately sells it cheaply to take advantage of the cash to meet her urgent need and there is a default in paying the installments.

3-The Lady guarantees a relative in installments, and when the First party is unable to pay, the guarantor becomes debtor and is sued, and this type often affects older ladies, where their relatives or neighbors guarantee in installments for their daughters ‘ marriages.

The second axis: Indicators about the conditions and characteristics of debtors in Egypt.

The results of one of the studies conducted on the impact of social projects for  indebted Women   after their release from prison showed a number of characteristics about themselves . It should be noted that the period of data collection and analysis extended from the period 10/1/2020 to 10/3/2020 and its results were as follows:

Source: Study “The effectiveness of social projects in improving the quality of life of  indebted women ”..

The study concluded the following:

1- The percentage of indebted who are less than 25 years old is “zero.”The percentage of those aged 25 to less than 35 years was about 15%, and the percentage of those aged 35 to less than 45 years was 16%.
The percentage of those aged 45 to less than 55 years was 60%, and the percentage of those aged 55 years and over was 6%

2-The percentage of married women out of the total number of indebted was 25%, while the percentage of divorced women was 50% and the percentage of widows was 25%.

3- The percentage of illiterate indebted was 33%, the percentage of those who read and write was about 29%, and those with a below-average qualification was 25%, and the percentage of women with an average qualification was 13%, while the high qualification was (zero)

4-The percentage of indebted for housewives reached 22%, the percentage of women working in the government sector reached “zero” and the percentage of those working in the private sector reached 38%, as well as the percentage of fines for those working in self-employment amounted to 35%, while the percentage of those on pension reached 5%

In another study conducted by the “Misr Al-Kheir” Foundation on the conditions of debtors in Egypt, the results were as follows:

1- The phenomenon of indebted is not only related to women, but rather includes males to a greater extent. This is what studies have shown and the Foundation’s database shows that 68% of debtors are male, while only 32% are female.

2-The study indicated that 44% of indebted are in Lower Egypt and 46% are in Upper Egypt

The third axis: Challenges facing indebted women

1-The life challenges that indebted women are exposed to in prison: they face great psychological pressure from the time they sign receipts and commit the crime of non-payment until the time of sentencing. They also face other problems after the trial and during the sentence. These problems differ from one prisoner to another depending on the nature of her personality and the period she spends in prison. Prison, but most of them suffer from problems related to their relationships inside prison, as well as the pressures facing the families of indebted women

2- Challenges facing indebted women after their release

A- Social pressures: The indebted woman finds her family disintegrated and dispersed, and divorce or deviation may occur among the children, which leads to her losing self-confidence.
There are aspects that may lead to social pressure on released women:

1-Feeling alienated: This is due to economic, social and political changes that have occurred in society, and because they have been absent for a long time and their families have become accustomed to their absence, which increases their sense of remorse for what they committed against their children and family.

2-Family disintegration: In some families of indebted, family disintegration or separation may occur, and the children may deviate as a result of the lack of anyone to care for them or care about them.

3-Feeling of isolation: which leads to released female indebted feeling isolated from their family and society, and leads to their inability to form social relationships

B-economic challenges: these pressures are as follows:

1-the problem of unemployment and poverty
2-it was not possible to attach the released from the indebted women to government and civil works

3-sychological challenges: released indebted women may face aversion from society as they are perceived by members of society as criminals, and ways of working are closed to them.

The fourth axis: the efforts of the Egyptian state

1- Issuing a decision by the President of the Republic to release all indebted (women and men) in correctional and rehabilitation centers during the celebration honoring the Egyptian woman and the exemplary mother in 2023, which included the release of 85 people.

2- Forming the National Committee for indebted (men and women) in order to study and solve the causes and solutions to the problem of debts in Egypt.

3- President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi launched the “Egypt Without indebted women” initiative in 2015, and in 2018 he also launched the “Egypt Prisons Without indebted” initiative, with great support from the “tahya misr” Fund, which allocated nearly 30 million pounds for this initiative, in addition to the release. About 6,400 cases from various prisons until 2019.

4- The “tahya misr” Fund allocated an amount of 12 million pounds in 2016 to 1,400 indebted both male and female

5- The Ministry of Social Solidarity paid the debts of 451 debtors, in 18 governorates, in cooperation with the Al-Masry Foundation for Development and Education, at a cost of approximately 8.5 million pounds, to release them

6-The state released 5,784 indebted in the period from 2020 to 2023, at a cost amounting to 224 million pounds.