Families break down in the pressure-cooker of crime, poverty and unemployment. Many single mothers are left to fend alone, said Imloul, a single mother herself whose Algerian parents divorced before her father's death. "Fathers do not play any role in their children's lives. The father doesn't exist at all. French justice gives full rights to mothers," Imloul said. Coming to France has given some Muslim North African women new freedoms. "They want to lead a similar life as their French counterparts," Imloul said. "But it is very difficult to leave a patriarchal culture all of a sudden. Women take on the responsibility of both mother and father while they are not at all suited for it. In the end, it is their children who suffer." She estimated 40 percent of families in the suburbs where she works are dysfunctional, causing a high rate of school dropouts, drug use, petty crimes and aggressive behavior. Police records for petty crimes burden youths, making it harder to build a productive life, she said."