Assessing the Geographical Factors of Women Crimes in Khartoum State The case of Umdurman Women Prison

Abstract

Abstract Women contribution to crimes is an undisputable fact. There are few studies conducted in the field of women crimes generally and from geographical perspective particularly, therefore little is known about the women offenders, their geographic and socio- economic characteristics in the study area. The main objective of the study was to examine the women offenders and their crimes from a geographical point of view in order to analyle the geographical indicators of the sampled women places of birth, wards of residence, why and where their crimes were committed. The other important socio-economic indices of the women included their ages, marital status, educational background and income. The data for the study were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The collected data were analyzed using different statistical techniques. The study revealed that Khartoum women committed as varied crimes as their men counterpart. lt was further observed that women of certain educational and social background commit financial and prostitution crimes in Khartoum. The study observed the clustering of some crimes in hot spots that have characteristics conducive for those crimes. The study showed that the changing role of women in the Sudanese society has its attendant impact on women crimes as shown in the increasing numbers of women committing financial crimes. The study found that most female offenders turn to commit crimes rationally. That is due to economic hardship and poverty, for those offenders living in the marginalized unplanned areas of the state. Economic gains or making more money involved those women of financial, prostitution, and drugs crimes. The study revealed that most of the women in prison were first time offenders. It was further observed that cultural factors, war displacement and lack of opportunities to engage in other activities made some women to commit crimes repeatedly and become hardened criminals as evident that the crimes committed thrice were brewing and selling of alcoholic drinks which account for 35%, prostitution 30% while theft and financial crimes had 15% each. The study showed that education opens widei' opportunities for women even in committing of crimes and that 73% of the sampled women received a kind of education.