On a cold winter night, Marwa Sayed (a pseudonym) sat with her children, encouraging them to prepare well for their midterm exams. Suddenly, a loud knock came at the door. She was handed a summons to appear at the police station over promissory notes she could no longer repay after her small business collapsed during the COVID-19 crisis. She left behind Hala, a third-year preparatory student, Mahmoud, in the sixth grade, and one-year-old Malika\u2014along with a pregnancy she later lost while in prison.<\/p>\n
Marwa tells Zawia3 that she was taken away with her baby on her shoulder, right before her children\u2019s eyes\u2014a scene that deeply scarred them. Their academic performance plummeted, and they lost any desire to learn, especially after the death of Hala and Mahmoud\u2019s father and the abandonment of her youngest daughter\u2019s father, who threw her children and furniture out into the street. \u201cIf it weren\u2019t for my mother and brother, my children would have been homeless,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Marwa was imprisoned in December 2020, just before the midterm exams, and released in June 2021, after the end-of-year exams. During that period, her children had no one to fill their mother\u2019s absence or provide for their needs, especially since their grandmother was elderly and immobile.<\/p>\n
The children avoided talking to their peers and refused to join school activities, haunted by the feeling that everyone knew what had happened to their mother. They were tormented by the image of her arrest in front of the neighbors\u2014being led from the seventh floor down to the street. \u201cI will never forget that day. I had my baby on my shoulder, and the way I looked in front of my children will never leave their memory,\u201d Marwa recalls.<\/p>\n
She explains that her son Mahmoud\u2019s academic level deteriorated and he refused to go to school because of what happened to her. Her daughter, once known among her classmates for her excellence, could no longer maintain it amid her mother\u2019s absence. \u201cMahmoud has now resumed taking Arabic lessons to improve his reading and writing. His performance has started to get better, and he\u2019s back in school in the third preparatory grade after being out for a while,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
From Cairo to Sohag, another imprisoned woman paid the price alone after her husband disappeared, leaving behind four daughters, the youngest still an infant. Nafisa Ali (a pseudonym) was forced to borrow money to feed her girls, especially after being expelled from her husband\u2019s family home.<\/p>\n
She took loans with interest to secure daily necessities, but the lender exploited her illiteracy, making her sign\u2014using her fingerprint\u2014on inflated amounts she never actually borrowed. When she couldn\u2019t repay them, prison awaited her.<\/p>\n
At 49, she endured harsh days behind bars. Six months later, upon her release, she found her daughters refusing to attend school due to the bullying and social stigma they had faced. They couldn\u2019t bear the mockery and psychological abuse. \u201cI still feel guilty to this day,\u201d she says\u2014an emotion that hasn\u2019t left her even a decade later. The experience left lasting wounds on her daughters, depriving them of education and hindering their chances at marriage: \u201cEveryone looks at them as the daughters of a prisoner, even though they all know how I was exploited simply because I was an uneducated woman,\u201d she tells Zawia3.<\/p>\n
Children are more affected by a mother\u2019s absence than a father\u2019s, given their deep emotional bond with her\u2014especially when that absence carries the weight of stigma they cannot escape. In this context, Dr. Jihan El-Nemrasy, Professor of Psychology and Family Counseling, explains that a mother\u2019s absence during a child\u2019s primary education years leaves a direct psychological impact, often resulting in attachment disorders and loss of emotional security. This can lead the child to feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, or fear of abandonment\u2014ultimately harming self-esteem, academic performance, and social behavior.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Zawia3, El-Nemrasy adds that some children may develop aggressive or withdrawn behavior due to internalized feelings of sadness or anger, making constant psychological support from caregivers essential to help them regain a sense of safety and trust.<\/p>\n
She further explains that the social stigma linked to a mother\u2019s imprisonment represents an additional challenge, leading to low self-confidence and difficulty forming healthy social relationships, as well as feelings of isolation and rejection from peers. This stigma, she warns, can create deeper crises of identity and belonging, increasing the likelihood of depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n
\nZawia3 reached out to the National Council for Women, represented by Amal Abdel-Monem, head of the Complaints Office, to ask about the council\u2019s role in supporting incarcerated women and their children. She responded that the Ministry of Social Solidarity is the entity responsible for this issue through civil society organizations, while the council\u2019s role is limited to assisting female prisoners in matters related to personal status or alimony, adding: \u201cSupport in such cases comes only through the Ministry of Social Solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Children of incarcerated women lack laws or regulations guaranteeing them care and support during their mothers\u2019 absence. Civil society organizations remain the main actors providing some basic needs and helping them access better opportunities in education and welfare.<\/p>\n
According to Nawal Mostafa, founder and president of the Children of Female Prisoners Care Association, the biggest challenge these children face is their families\u2019 inability to pay school fees, buy uniforms, bags, and other essentials that other children take for granted. \u201cWe live in times when everyone is struggling\u2014so imagine what it\u2019s like for the working poor or those with no income at all,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
The association helps these children by covering school expenses, distributing schoolbags, and providing all necessary supplies before the school year begins to encourage them to continue learning. \u201cWe run a Child Creativity Center that offers daily activities during summer and weekend programs during the school year,\u201d Nawal explains, adding that they also offer training courses and workshops that help children develop their talents and improve their skills, such as drawing, choir music, and courses in English or French.<\/p>\n
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